Forgotten: Original
by Biocide
Summary: What if there was another spartan? One that had survived the argumentation with a price, frozen before training was complete, and thawed out when no one was left on the planet they used to call home? This is the story of Spartan 113. Eventual MCxOC
1. Thawed out

**A/N: Hey guys, got a new laptop. Hopefully i dont break this one within 6 months. ha, lame attempt at a joke. Blah.**

**I'm slow at updating right now. Again. But I'll quicken my pace once August comes 'round. Going up to Duluth on saturday and wont be back for a few days, but i'll try working on my stories. Yeah yeah, i know. I shouldnt be writing another new story until i at least get my other two on the roll again but i couldnt help it. I wrote this one while i didnt have a laptop a week or two ago. Or was it a month? Damn i'm bad at time. Also kinda loopy because of sleep problems... heh heh, go insomnia. The other night i didnt fall asleep until 5 AM in the morning! And guess what? My dad has a timer on my laptop so i cant write past about... eh, 12? Whoo. T_T**

**Anyways, thank you mckeown for reading and giving me advice on this while i couldnt post it. I tried changing a few things but it still might be too angst-y. I apoligize for that, and the fact that some of the things might... i donno, be jumpy. I edited it today, bad day to edit. -rubs my tired head-**

**Read, review if ya want, and tell me what you think! It helps a lot and i welcome anything and everything, just want some feedback from my other readers that haven't commented on my stories. Blah, i forgot what i just said, but am too lazy to reread XD ugh i need a nap... anyways, enjoy.**

**PS: what's the different between hits and visitors? Are visitors just people not signed in reading the thing or what?**

I tried again and again. No answer. Static was my only reply.

I nearly screamed before settling on picking up a good sized rock and hurtling it away. It hit a large boulder and shattered to pieces.

It's been so long. So long since I've seen another living human being. The only reminders of what they act like are the videos and pictures stored in my HUD. Ones of when I and my friends were small, young and naive, to when our numbers depleted to when we nearly reached adulthood. Many survived, but one of my closest friends had not. He had died on the table; no one could have done anything to save him. I still blame them from time to time, but I mostly blame myself. Why? I'm still not quiet sure- it's a human thing probably; to blame someone else for your own mistakes, and yourself for something you could not prevent. I blame myself for many things, but of all things, I blame myself for my lost brothers and sisters.

I believe the rest are still out there; fighting for the human race, killing the enemy for our cause. I _know_ the war is still going on. I mean, if it wasn't; they would take time and try to find me. Right?

They wouldn't just leave me here, would they? I mean, they know I had still been frozen for all this time, they wouldn't just… _forget_ about me right?

The gravel and debris crunched under my boots as I traveled on, looking for other survivors. I've only seen two, but they were far too long gone by the time I had the chance to come up to them. I had to leave them; one wished to leave the world the same way she came in it, alone, as the other believed I was one of the strange creatures that made the world like this. The harsh words he screamed at me made no difference as I just walked passed his battle worn body.

Bodies lay in the streets, both bones and rotting corpses lying on top of blood stained grounds. Half crushed buildings around me deteriorating, lifeless eyes seemingly watch every movement I make, the cries and wails echoing in the dead city I'm currently traveling through.

Strangely enough, I never saw a body of the creatures that had invaded this planet.

Scattered reports from long ago said that the planet only got half

glassed, but the other half was lifeless all the same. The people who

weren't gunned down got evacuated, only to have those ships blown

apart before they reached the atmosphere. Few took the risk of

staying, hiding in theirs and others homes. Either being found and

killed by the enemy, or simply dying from running out of supplies, no one was

around anymore.

By the time I had thawed out no one was left.

It must have been so long ago when it happened, but it only seemed just the other day to me back then.

_Hands gripped my struggling limbs, many more joining their brotheren as they tried to tame the wrestling being._

_"Calm down!" The shout was only drowned out by another eardrum bursting scream._

_"Let me go Let Me Go _LET ME GO!_" I let out another scream, feeling the people holding onto me cringe as I made their ears ring._

_"Soldier, cease at once!" Someone barked out, making everyone freeze and cutting me off, only to start back up again._

_"Sir you can't do this to me- You can't!" I roared, glaring daggers into the older man's head. His usual bright eyes hardened, causing me to shut my mouth before he spoke in a low, angry voice. Luckily the anger was not directed at me._

_"I know, soldier. But UNSC made it clear that someone had to be put in cyro for when the time of need comes."_

_"But why ME? You and everyone else _knows_ that I cannot _stand_ cyro!" I glared at him, shaking off my live restraints before walking closer to my superior, not having to look down that much at him like so many of my siblings could. I was only a few inches shorter than my family, so I had to look down less than my siblings had to. He stared up at me, not intimidated like so many others would have if in his position._

_"I know, but it wasn't my choice. Your talents will be needed in the future, the ONI see that as well. Don't worry; it'll be over before you know it." He stated calmly before hands restricted my movements again, two pricks in either arm told me they brought out the tranquilizers. It didn't put me out though, as a normal human would have been put into a coma at the double dose. No, it only made me drowsy and helped the marines get me over to a room without much fuss. People filled the room, full of sad faces. Some even tried to cover it up with half hearted smiles when I walked in the door._

_I looked around, calm as the medication started wearing off already. Tears pricked my eyes when I even saw my siblings who hadn't passed the argumentation and lived to tell of it. I looked around at my siblings, my family, as I paused in the doorway._

_Many clapped at my volenteerless order, as others closest to me came up and hugged me, sadness in their eyes but smiles plastered on for other's sake. My sake._

_After the eighth fake smile I saw I broke down. I wasn't supposed to. I wasn't TRAINED to behave this way. But no one corrected me as tears appeared in others eyes as few of my closest siblings kneeled and hugged me close._

_I got the courage to look around at my family again._

_Kylie, Tom and Tim, Jake and Mathew, Kelly... and everyone else who had survived this far was here. As I looked around, there wasn't one dry eyed face in this room. Except one._

_My eyes locked with his. After what seemed like minutes when only seconds passed, I nodded only once at the solemn face._

_He was the only one to crack a smile at my efforts to lighten the mood in dark times. He was the only one I didn't normally speak to. I only knew what our silent relationship showed. He was an excellent leader, even when he was the one taking the orders. He wasn't talkative like his closest friends, Kelly and Sam, were, or as outgoing as even the shyest sibling we had. No, he was not shy; he just didn't have to communicate with words like normal human beings had to. He spoke without words, only his siblings and the few outsiders lucky enough to know him personally knew what he was saying. He didn't have any talents that stood out abnormally, no; he was one of the best by being himself, no special talents needed. Though he did have something no one else had in our family, something every human longs for; and it wasn't good cooking. And I have no idea what it was. The only thing I would have wanted, before I got the last minute _"mission"_, was to find out what that hidden specialty of his was. That, and not be put in the fucking cyro tube!_

_Our father, the man who stood by us and trained us to the soldiers we are today, stood behind me; putting a hand on my shoulder._

_It was time._

_I took my eyes away from our unofficial leader and sent a nod to our father-like figure._

_I stood with the help of my brothers and sisters, thanking them and individually thanking everyone in the room, fresh tears for each individual that have been part of my family for all these years._

_I got around to that man again. I stood in front of him and stared, before I nodded to him as more tears fell from my face. I had on a small smile on my features before I had to turn away from them all; towards my one-way ticket to my own personal hell._

_They had me dawn on my armor before going in, saying it'll lessen the chance of freezer burn. I smiled at the small joke. I swept the room full of somber faces before I put my helmet on._

_I stepped back into the open tube before I could think twice, clenching my eyes tight as the cover slowly defended over my front. I opened my eyes again, face relaxed with a sad smile. As the tube began to cool and fog up the glass, I flashed everyone a Spartan smile before placing the hand on the glass. I froze like that._

That was so long ago, and now, after thawing out after so long, I seem to have been reborn into this war battered world. The battery on the cyro tube had been spent, after the faculty finally had run out of backup power, and it took a complete day to thaw completely. And guess what? Freezer burn.

Yup, right foot. The freezer burn had infected the top of my foot, somehow missing my toes in a strange design as it had crawled up my leg, stopping just below the knee. Looking at it from my angle, I couldn't tell what the design reminded me of, just that it was freezer burn and that I would have to get it fixed when I get rescued. _If_ I get rescued.

No, bad. Bad bad bad. Think positive thoughts.

It's been so long since the Covenant left and glassed most of the planet. A year or two probably. The only way I know I'm alone is the static on the radio. It has been like that since the glassing. No one has used it, I haven't seen a ship fly by in the sky, and I feel alone. Deathly alone.

Yup those thoughts are positive. Pfft.

For a while I had wondered if I eventually died in cyro, forgotten as the active Spartans saved the human race from extinction without me, letting me walk the world that would have been the future if the human race hadn't been saved. But that soon died as time went on. Being in Hell would mean I couldn't be able to die from starvation or dehydration. Being in Hell would mean I wouldn't have any happiness. Though half of it is already true, the chance of me dying from either of those is still out there. I'm painfully reminded of that fact when my rations get dangerously low, causing me to only eat every other three days until I find another food source to take and live off on until it happens all over again.

I have not stopped traveling since two months after thawing out. The first month was spent wondering where the fuck I was; the next was trying to figure out what time it was and where my family could be.

No one was there. Only bodies.

I cried when I found some remains of my brothers and sisters, long dead after the fight on this planet. There were many few that I had found, and everyone of them I recognized; not a day goes by when I don't think of them. I only read the numbers stenciled on their armor, not daring to take off their helmets to see their faces, frozen to the expression when they were brought to an end.

I tried the radio in my helmet again. It was fruitless. No one sane or strong enough would still be on this planet, not for this long.

I found out last year that I had been frozen for ten years. Ten long years since I have seen a living family member; ten long years since I had been frozen in that damned tube.

I shouldered the backpack over my shoulder, making it seem small on my armor's large back. It was half full of rations and water; I will need to find another water source soon. My armor ran on solar power, so that was one less problem to worry about. Even though the endless clouds from the glassing never let any sun shine through, the suit was able to be slowly powered from the UV rays that managed to get through.

Within a few more moments, I spotted a machine. I immediately perked up and made my weary feet go faster. Soon I was at a slow jog, a run for a normal human, and got to the vehicle in no time. I put my backpack in the passenger seat and eagerly sat myself down in the driver's. Quick fingers toyed with some buttons before putting my hands beneath the wheel and connecting a few wires.

The engine spat, then died. I deflated before got out and opened the lid, waving away the cloud of dust that formed in the compartment. I looked it over before going to work. In a few short moments, I tried it again, the engine roaring to life.

Slamming the lid down with more force than intended, I jumped into the driver's seat again, only to have the engine suddenly die.

I sat there for what seemed like forever before slamming my head into the wheel, the horn blaring before slowly leaving with the engine with a low whine.

God damn it.


	2. How'd they manage to get it up there?

"I am calling on an open channel. Can anyone hear me?" I droned into the helmet radio, already knowing the response. Lack of response anyways. It has been a day since the warthog letdown and my feet dragged in the dirt.

This is pointless; I'm just going to die on this barren planet with no one to remember me. I'll just be the Spartan that was wasted, put into cyro for a time of "special need" that would never come. I'll bet that ONI just doesn't like me in particular. I mean, there was that one time when I called someone from there a douche... then another time when I broke someone's hand after the argumentation... but that time it was an accident! I was still getting used to my upgraded body! Although the next time I had broke their hand... they had it coming alright?

Okay, so even if there is a SLIGHT chance of the ONI shitheads not holding a grudge against me... then I'm sure whatever god that's up there, ha, I'm sure I did SOMETHING to piss that guy off.

My foot caught on something and I looked down, grimacing before hopping over to a wall and scraping my boot on it, leaving a nice purple trail of human brains behind.

I continued on my way, taking care of not stepping in anymore corpses as I trekked through the old battle grounds. Er, massacure grounds. Still no sign of enemy bodies. But the blue and purple blood… different story.

I must be halfway across the world, traveling for nearly two years now. I knew that wasn't the case, the road I chose to follow had so many twists and turns, I wouldn't be surprised and none too happy to find out I just went in one big giant circle. I sighed and a button clicked again.

"Hey, can anyone here me? My feet hurt, I'm sleep deprived, and alone out here. As much as I'd hate to admit it, I need help. If anyone can hear me, even if you're damned Covenant scum, I'm on highway 21 and I just passed Holihala the other day, heading... north I think. I dunno... this shifty road has taken me up and down, east and west, so many fucking times it's hard to te... never mind, I'm heading east. just remembered my helmet has a compass. Anyways- CAN ANYONE FUCKING HEAR ME?" I ground my teeth together and unclicked the button, ending my transmission. Again, no one responded.

I had long ago let down my emotionless walls, seeing how no one was around for miles. I was back to my old self for a few days, the old me that always acted how I felt when I was just with my family, before becoming grouchy and annoyed.

Fuck, I wish I was out of here. Even if I was stuck on some boring mission it'd be better than this.

I clicked the transmitter back on again, making it a repeating message, and started to whistle. Only three seconds before the tune ended and I stopped the message. It only took that long for someone to track you. Even if it was a deadly enemy I'd burst with joy at being found, even if it meant having my head blown off the next minute.

Yup, I must have a death wish if I want it that much.

Every other day I wonder why I'm doing this. Maybe there's still a small hope in me that I'll be found. That explains the constant open channel radio transmissions I send out every hour. Or it could be the fact that I enjoy life too much.

Pfft.

Yeah, that's it.

Or it could be the fact that I'm afraid of capping myself. There's a possibility. But most likely not. Hey, don't get me wrong, I fear death just as much as anyone does, but at least I accept it. If I die, fine; accepted. If someone I know, dies; mourned but accepted. If I pull the plug on my life; unacceptable. I will NOT give into so easily. So what if I travel endlessly, clinging on to the last thread of hope that someone will find me? So what if I end up wasting my time on a hopeless deal? So what if even the tiniest, most _harmless_ and least _dangerous_ enemy kills me? I won't cap myself.

I sighed and began entertaining myself for the millionth time.

After singing 'Life is a Highway,' (just to be ironic), and a few Breaking Benjamin songs, I gave up on singing. It's not that I hate singing, I enjoy it a lot actually; I'm just not in the mood. Some of my siblings used to tease me about liking bands from, oh, over five hundred years ago, but I still like them anyways.

Instead, I pulled my bag off my shoulder and kneeled next to it. Unzipping the front pocket, I randomly grabbed a few of the hundreds of little chips. Zipping it back up and resuming on my way, I put one in the back of my helmet. Before it started playing, I made sure I wouldn't run into anything within the next ten minutes.

My HUD went black, the radio static fading away as the sounds of running filled my head. I watched as the video blinked on, showing the jumpy screen. This guy was running, obviously, but from what?

Do I really have to ask?

This was one of the many chips I swiped from the military men I've come across within the years. I felt guilty about it, but I needed to figure out what had happened before I got thawed out,_ somehow_.

Plasma was seen flying by the person, him crying out when one sizzled near his head.

The camera suddenly met the ground before the man staggered to get up, leaving the helmet behind. I watched as he ran away, only to have large feet obscure the lens. They trampled away towards him, firing their deadly guns. I made out the forms of some kind of big human-like forms running after a group of people before gunning them down mercilessly.

Their screams were last thing I heard before a crunch ended the transmission; someone must've stepped on the helmet and shattered it.

I sighed and took the chip out; putting it along with the few others I had taken out into an outside pocket on my suit.

I just wasn't in the mood. Wasn't in the mood to watch people die when I can tell their stories as I walk by their still bodies. Melted skin and bones tell of plasma bullets, crushed bones meant they were either beaten or trampled to death. Limbs torn off meant a larger enemy used them as a stress relief. No wounds meant they had survived the attack, only to die by mother nature's hand. People who had giant footprints on their bodies told that something _huge_ was present at their death.

I sighed again. What's with all the damn sighing?

I looked up at where my feet had brought me this time, perking up slightly before making my way towards the run down bar. I searched through the remains, fortunate that no bodies were in here, and stole some of the expired packaged food. I stuffed them into my pack, then grabbed a bottle of alcohol and continued on my way. After about ten minutes I entered an abandoned grocery store. Ignoring the scattered bodies and blood on the walls and floor, I made my way over to the freezer section. Oddly enough, those still worked. I came across a fogged up door and wiped my hand on it, jumping back when I came face to face with a freezer burned corpse with its mouth wide open, dead eyes screaming. I avoided that one, and the other fogged up glass before opening up a door and grabbing a few things. I took off my helmet before putting the bag of ice on top of my head. I sighed in relief, the sweat on my face drying up after a while. I tilted my head back and opened my eyes.

_Holy _shit, _they even got blood and guts on the _ceiling!

I sidestepped out from underneath the dried entrails and focused on the chilly ice that's cooling me down.

It had to be well over 80 degrees out. Even if the sun isn't shining, the clouds lock in the heat. I don't take to the heat very well; I'm more of a cold person.

"Testing testing 1 2 3. Can anybody read me?" Still no answer.

I made sure my beacon was still working before moving on taking the bag of ice with me. I stored the ice in my chest compartment, keeping the water stored there nice and cool.

I pressed onwards, walking through the deserted town, before going back on the deserted highway, on this damned deserted planet, whistling that small tune over and over as it brought back memories of the past.


	3. What  are they?

I shot to my feet as a tremor shook the earth around me. I grabbed my bag and helmet, running to the entrance of my temporary home, hearing the helmet seal on before I get to the door. I duck as a plasma bolt hits the wall where my head was.

Oh shit look at all of them.

I ran outside, dodging every shot of plasma they shot at me before just plain running the hell away from them. Plasma made my shields shimmer as I jogged away from them. I picked up speed when I heard the drones of some kind of vehicles behind me.

"When I said that anyone could come and find me- I didn't mean a whole lot of you's!"

They ignored me. Two alien ships were on my tail, torrents shooting at me as the vehicles fired their own weapons.

"Oh- COME ON!"

_Smart idea. REALLY smart idea to not take any weapons. Oh no, what's the chance of being attacked? I'm all alone out here. YEAH RIGHT!_

Even though my life's in danger by the large number of -… something; what were they called? - on my tail and having not a single weapon on me, I couldn't help but feel happy that I had been found. Even if they're trying to kill me. I jumped and spun in the air, halting my movements before flipping over another floating object that tried to run over me. As I flipped, the small alien in the vehicle looked up at me. I would say it wad kinda cute before I grabbed its mask and ripped it away from the rest of him. I landed on my feet and listened as the suffocating alien spun the ghost out of control before crashing it into one of its buddies. Another vehicle came at me. At the last second, I side stepped it and grabbed on. I moved with the momentum and kicked a startled large alien out of its seat. The metal contraption immediately dropped to the ground with a lurch.

I looked at the controls, mind smoking as I looked at the alien technology.

How do I work this thing?

It's not like a video game, that's for sure. You can't just hop right on into a foreign vehicle and go. Nope, you gotta know what you're doing in order to control it. I snapped my fist back, the alien's double jaw going around my fist before the alien falls to the ground, choking to death. I hear more aliens coming, the ones on foot catching up. I need to act fast.

Squeezing one eye shut, I pressed a few buttons.

I lurched forward and slammed into the dashboard as the alien vehicle zoomed backwards, hitting a building.

"Well THAT wasn't the right button." I said, head spinning. The enemy was almost upon me. I tried another one.

_SPLAT_

I stuck my tongue out at the blue blood on the hood of the ghost. Right button at the wrong time. I reached forward and grabbed the small weapon that hung in the deceased little one's hand before backing up, letting the body slowly slide off.

"Ok, now how to sh-OOT!" I slammed back in my seat as the vehicle took off. Nope, that wasn't it.

"DOESNT THIS THING HAVE ANY EASY CONTROLS?" I slammed both fists into the dashboard, a steering wheel with buttons on both handles popped out of the compartment.

I blinked. _Oh..._

The last thing a bird-like creature saw was the bottom of my vehicle before I landed on it, crushing its bird-like bones before continued to zoom towards the crowd of enemy forces. I slammed on the breaks, turning to the side, and succeeded in smashing the side of the alien metal into three little dudes, sending them flying. I leaped out of the ghost, smashing my boots against a larger alien's chest before rolling into a kneeling position.

I proceeded to spin my leg out, connecting it with a birdie's neck before jumping into the air, landing on a little guy. I looked down at the gun in my hand and pointed it at another little one's head, squeezing the trigger when it flinched. I looked down at it as it glowed.

_The heck?_

The little one pointed its own gun at me and I rolled to the side, releasing the trigger in the process. I came up with just enough time to watch as a green glowing ball went to the alien and made contact with its head, making it collapse on the ground. It didn't get back up.

I looked down at the gun and threw it away. If it takes that long to fire, it'll do me no good.

Another one of those double jaw aliens came at me and I grabbed its fist, grunting with effort as I spun it around in a circle, wiping out the enemies closer to me before letting it soar. I glanced down, eyes glinting behind my HUD.

I stood up fully and looked around at my enemies. I activated the swords with a deadly grin.

Within ten minutes, I was the last one standing as the alien ships retreated back into the sky.

I stood there, panting, in the middle of the clearing filled with bodies.

I fell to my knees, the strange swords spent as they cluttered to the ground. I reached a bloody hand up to my helmet and pressed a button, my voice quiet.

"This is Spartan 113, I had just made contact with the enemy and defeated them; can anybody read me?"

"Can anyone hear me? This is Spartan 113 requesting medical assistance- somebody please respond!" I yelled into the radio, flinching as pain waved through my body.

More aliens had attacked over the last few months; I managed to fight them off but at more than one price. Blood seeped through and gleamed on metal. My left arm hung limp as my right hand released the button. I groaned at the ongoing static and ripped off my helmet. I scrambled to take off my chest piece and the rest of my armor around my wound as my eyes adjusted to the dark room. I was taking refuge in an old warehouse, but made sure it was abandoned before making the transmission. Last thing I need is to be ambushed when I have a wound gushing with blood.

I then pulled the rest of my upper armor off, my right shoulder armor with more difficulty, leaving everything from the waist down alone as I got my med kit out.

I poured water on a rag and washed around the wound before pressing a dry one on it. I hissed as the rag quickly soaked with crimson before swapping it for a new one.

I took out a syringe filled with green liquid and inserted the needle into a vein, managing not to flinch when the cold metal poked me. After draining it, I picked up a can and sprayed its contents into the flesh wound. The blood quickly stopped and the pain lessened. I sighed, leaning back against the dusty wall as I took a breather.

It had been four months since the first encounter with the enemy; a second fight broke out the other day before they brought some back up. Tired and hungry, my movements got sloppy. A group of purple needles jammed their way passed the armor and struck my shoulder before exploding. By then I had realized my sloppy movements too late.

I started picking my armor off the floor, bit by bit I put it back on. With a groan, I got to my feet, helmet under my right arm at my side. I exited the ware house and continued on my way, sticking to the shadows the best I could in this scattered ghost town of Haslite.

Reaching the edge of the town, I see a wide, deserted flat land. There was nothing as far as the eye could see. I look around before weighing my options. I could go back and find a different way, or I could go and take my chances with the buzzards.

"Never mind about the medical assistance, it's not like anyone can hear me." I mutter into the radio before taking a step forward.

I took the risk.


	4. OllyOllyOxInFree

It's been two days since I've seen a town on this highway. The gash on my shoulder was healed enough where I could move it with caution, but still had the chance of infection. I was currently resting under a tree when more alien scum showed up. My first and second encounters with the double jawed species, were the only ones before they got replaced.

Instead of them, giant, hairy, _smelly,_ monkeys replaced them. And instead of the _giant_ aliens I encountered on the second attack with their plasma cannons, big bugs shot at me with the pistol like weapons from before and guns that shot pink needles. And instead of having the fight only lasting one, maybe two hours like they have for the past few months; it lasted several.

Hot damn did they put steroids in these gorillas? Blast their helmets away and they try and trample you! Damn were they ugly, and don't get me started on their smell. Phew I was sure lucky to have my helmet block most of THAT stench!

After the fight, I sat back down underneath my tree, resting my back against the dry bark as I whistled my family's famous tune into the radio.

"Sir!" He snapped into a salute, his voice almost robotic coming from the helmet.

"At ease." He dropped the salute but didn't relax in his stance.

"How are you doing?"

"What did you call me here for, sir?" Ah, still keeping to strict business, always cutting to the case. Some things just never change. The captain ushered the Chief over to the screen, turning towards him as he walked closer.

"Covenant have been busy lately it seems." The captain paused, thinking over the situation.

"Sir, how come we're watching the brutes and not looking for the other Halos?"

"Because, Master Chief, _they_ are not focused on finding the next Halo." He pressed a button, and the screen lit up, showing an unmistakable familiar planet. Chief stayed silent for a moment, fingers twitching as he relooks at the damaged planet.

"Sir." His voice is emotionless, bordering on cold as he stares at the planet he damn well knows.

"I believe they're looking for something. Or rather, some_one_..." He cleared his throat. "Francis, the AI for this ship, picked something interesting up while searching the radio for any Covenant transmissions. Instead, he found this." He pressed a button and static filled the air, an illegible fuzzy noise coming out of the speakers. The captain looked over to me, and nodded. "Cortana?"

My image flicked as I cracked it once more.

"Clearing up the transmission now."

A seven noted tune drifted in through the room, making the Chief freeze up.

Olly- Olly- Ox- In- Free

A day has gone by after the attack with the strange monkey aliens. I haven't moved from my spot except to pee behind a bush twenty meters away, but I'll bet you didn't need to know that.

My shoulder throbbed, I'm out of biofoam to seal it up; I had to resort to bandaging it tightly up to prevent anymore blood flow. My whole upper left side is painfully stiff, the armor over the wound still crusted with dried blood.

I couldn't go on. After my last attempt to stand and stretch, I couldn't get passed a kneeling position. Moving my arm just a little would make it scream. I had unbandaged it, only for one of my fears to be true. It was swollen and puss crusted the edges of the wound, green mixed in the white liquid. I couldn't even look at it for long, my stomach doing flips every time I even thought about it. I could already feel my body slowly poison itself from the open wound. It turned out that the wound had reopened itself during the night, already loosened up from the previous fight.

That's when things truly sunk in.

I have no home, nothing to live for, no reason to go on. I cried until I had no tears left to shed, even then some. I feel like a little kid, lost. I don't know where my family is, or even if anyone's still alive, and I'm slowly dying. I'll die on this god forsaken planet, finally beaten and forgotten, just like how I was forgotten when I was in the cyro tube for ten years. My brothers and sisters have forgotten me. My greatest fear has come alive.

I'm all alone.

I dried my face before putting my hand on my helmet sitting beside me. As I felt my chest loosen up from all the stress, my shoulders feeling lighter despite the two ton armor weighing down on them.

I breathed out through my nose, letting my head fall back onto the rough bark, before succumbing to a dark, blissful slumber.

I dreamed of my family when we were young, newly recruits for the SPARTAN-II program, early training to be the best we could be. Then I dreamed of when we were teens, before the event each of us will always remember. I dreamed of my closest friend before the night of the argumentation. After wishing everyone a fearful good luck, he pulled me over to the side.

_Spartan 204 stood in front of me, mischief in his eyes._

_"Jessie, be honest with me when I ask you this." I look at him, curious, before I nodded hesitantly. "Is there anyone you like?" I looked at him like he was stupid._

_"Of course there's someone I like; I like everyone!" He chuckled, shaking his head._

_"No, I mean is there anybody that you _like_ like." I looked at him, mouth slightly open as I got the picture._

_"Of- Of course not!" A blush dusted my cheeks. Huh, I didn't know I was capable of blushing._

_"Come on, there has to be _some_body... is it Jo-" An irritated sigh cut him off._

_"No it's not Joseph."_

_"But you've seen the looks he's given you! Come on; don't tell me that you don't feel anything special for him."_

_"I only see him as a brother, Mannie, nothing more nothing less." He sighed at the nickname I persistently keep calling him._

_"Then who do you like?"_

_"No one, I guess I've never really thought about it..." Mischief sparked in my eyes. "But who do _you_ like, mister manly."_

_"M-M-Me?" He shook his head frantically, looking away while wiping his nose." "N-No one!" I burst out laughing._

_"Come on, Mannie, you know you're not a good liar. Tell me! ... Is it René?" A sly grin spread across my features as his face turned tomato red. "You _do_ like her!" I laughed as he shuffled his feet childishly. I became serious after a moment of silence. "You should tell her, Mannie, she's a pretty girl; it won't be long 'till she's taken." He sighed, nodding in defeat._

_Silence made us look away from each other, both of us thinking about what tonight might bring._

_"Jess?" He looked at me._

_"Yeah?" I looked up at him, returning the sad smile he gave me._

_"Whatever happens after tonight, I just want to say that if I could have changed anything, I wouldn't. It's been fun." He held out his hand. I smiled a little bit more._

_"Yeah." I took his hand and pulled him into a hug, not knowing that I'd never see him again._

I woke up in the middle of the night before drowsily wiping the tears that managed to run down my half awoken face. I leaned back again, asleep before my head met the bark once more.

This time, I dreamed something new. I saw a sad-eyed man in front of me. His short brown hair and sad blue eyes contrasting against his inhumanly pale complexion. He seemed older than me, yet oddly familiar. A ghost of a smile appeared on his face, familiarization shown in his eyes as his deep voice echoed throughout my sleep deprived mind.

_"I found you."_

I opened my eyes, blinking as sudden light fluttered around me. I looked out, tired eyes adjusting to the light before looking up. The clouds parted and the sun shone through for the first in a long time. I smiled, welcoming the indirect warmth. I was still sitting against the tree, in the shade of it, as I looked up at the sky between the leaves and branches. I enjoyed the slight breeze, finally finding the warm feeling of the planet. This is what Reach is supposed to feel like, this is my home.

I woke with a start; panting softly. Droplets of rain pelted my metal boots. I pulled my right leg back, resting my arm on my knee as I stared at my left boot being hammered by the sudden downpour.

It was just a dream. This place isn't home anymore.

I sighed and looked up at the dark sky, the rest of my being sheltered from the rain by the branches and leaves overhead. I closed my eyes, listening to the rain.


	5. No, it cant be

It had been two days since I last made a transition on the radio. What's the point? I give up; even when my mind still nags at me to hang in there.

My arm quietly throbbed only enough to make itself known, being a reminder that if I don't get the proper medical assistance soon, I might not wake up one day.

I took out the med kit again, before pressing a needle between the tear in the black suit and injecting the chemical into my blood stream. The pain eased, but I knew the wound was still there.

I took out the bandages, and, not bothering taking off the armor, wrapped it around my left arm and torso, securing it to my side tightly. I packed up, and just when I was ready to pick up my helmet and travel through the harsh rain, a low droning caught my attention.

I looked up at the sky, not believing what I'm hearing right now. It wasn't another alien ship. It had a more airy sound to it. I could just barely keep still as I saw a dark shadow on the gray clouds, growing bigger and bigger until I saw the dark gray metal.

It took my sleep deprived mind to realize it wasn't the aliens at all.

I'm saved!

"There; the beacon's coming from that tree." Johnson pointed over the pilot's shoulder, who nodded and started landing the pelican twenty meters away; the door in back opening.

I jumped out of the aircraft before it got within ten feet of the ground. I looked around at the area, bodies all around, before I started making my way over to the tree that stood alone in the middle of nowhere.

What the hell? Did they do all this by themselves?

Covenant bodies littered the floor; all either shot or had bones sticking out of their bodies. The smell of rotting flesh was washed away by the heavy downpour.

I slowed my pace, not wanting my worry and eagerness show as I walked to the right of the tree, ten feet away from it now.

Who could it be?

Linda, Jorge, Keiichi... Kelly?

My heart raced as I walked around the tree, as I started to see the figure sitting against the dark brown bark. I stopped walking when I saw them move, the outdated MJNOIR armor softly clinking together. They turned towards me, upper movements restricted by dirtied bandages tightly bounding their left arm to their side, blood crusted on their left armor shoulder plating, blocking my view of the stenciled numbers. I couldn't help but pause in my movements as I took in the damaged form of my sibling.

They seemed to freeze as well, when their helmet finally stopped turning my way. The rain faded into the background as we regarded each other silently.

Stiffly, they nodded, and before I could react I found them brushing past me and head towards the pelican.

After a second, I followed. I racked my mind, trying to figure out who they were by the way they moved, the old MJNOIR armor clanking together softly with every step.

I quietly watched as they walked with a slight limp, left shoulder sagging almost exaggerating until we reached the ship. They paused in their steps before straightening, hearing the chatter of the marines inside the shuttle. Then they confidently walked onboard, the voices growing quiet. I followed, silently looking on as the Spartan walk passed the marines, jaws slacked as they took the damage of an "invincible hero" in.

Not only was their left arm bound tightly to their side, and the fact that they walked with a limp from their right leg, their armor was barely hanging on. Dented metal shown dully in the red light, caked with dirt and blood of the enemy, scratches covered nearly every part of the armor. The occasional spark from the right hip, holes in the under armor suit showed red raw flesh, punctures in the armor showed the wires that connected it all. Shield was down, obvious when metal clunked heavier on the metal flooring, instead of the dull noise other MJNOIR armor does because of the small space the shield brings on our feet, letting the user glide on the floor just a little. From behind, dents in the back and helmet were much larger than the ones in front; I noticed a handprint on the back of the right shoulder where an enemy managed to get a grip on the Spartan before being ripped away.

This isn't right. Spartans don't show pain. Even as my fellow Spartan walked past the marines, the limp was noticeable. Spartans can go for days without showing the slightest bit of their pain; they can have both legs broken and still walk normally, letting no emotion slip passed the armor. But this one… this one didn't seem to care if they were showing weakness. They didn't care that they were supposed to be seen as an invincible human, going into battle and coming out without a scratch. Though they showed their pain, the Spartan walked with confidence; as if it had gone to the center of where the Flood resides, survived encounter after encounter with the Flood forms, and got out without a scratch.

I stopped just inside the door, taking my place on the right hand side. I watched as they walked up to Sergeant Johnson and saluted.

"Petty Officer Second… of th… program, SPAR… 113 repor… duty, sir."

I stiffened as the voice cracked from the external speakers of the old equipment, a spark coming from the left side of their neck without them acknowledging. The voice changer told no one who it was, letting the cold robotic voice ring out in the chilly damp air.

Johnson returned the salute, dismissing the machine damage before he clapped a hand on their right shoulder, his hand noticeably smaller than the handprint already on there, and nodded. "Good to have you, soldier."

The Spartan just stood there for a short moment, before nodding and turning around, back to the door.

"Alright, we got him. Back to the ship." Johnson ordered the pilot, who then prepared the ship for the trip back.

I watched as my fellow Spartan neared, before they sat down across from me, helmet turned towards the closing door. The once golden HUD showed no emotion as the door slowly started to close out the rain. A crack had split across the screen, unbalancing the reflection of the barren waste land we used to call home. The pelican started to take off, before the door even closed, giving us a higher angle of the land. The Spartan's helmet turned forward again, towards me but not looking directly at my stiff body language. As the door closed with a bang, the helmet went limp, the body attached to the head inside went limp against the wall. Johnson walked over to us, sitting in the empty seat beside me as he smoked a cigar. He gestured to the unconscious Spartan across from me.

"Know him?"

"Her." I subconsciously clenched and unclenched my fists.

"Still, know her?" He said around the cigar.

"She isn't supposed to be here." He looked up at me, my voice as cold as the freezing rain that's pelting the pelican outside.

"I'm taking that as a 'yes.'" He let a breath of smoke out, eyeing the damaged Spartan. "Who is she? Couldn't really tell with her voice going in and out."

"A ghost." I noticed my actions and stopped, tensing them up before looking to the closed door in thought.

She's not supposed to be here. She's not supposed to be alive. They said she was dead. _They said._


	6. The Truth

I felt myself jerk as something beneath me suddenly stopped moving.

Pain exploded in my head, making me try and figure out how to lessen it. I rolled my head to the side and bite back a groan. Nope, not that way.

After a while the pain had subsided enough for the thought of opening my eyes even processed.

Slowly with difficulty, I managed to twitch them.

Crap this is harder than I thought.

I tried again, managing to open then a crack. Red light filled my vision as my head lolled to the side, my helmet clanking against the metal seat. I opened them again, letting an airy grunt out with effort. I saw dark shapes moving to my right. I rolled my head the other way, eyes following their movements as I saw them traveling towards a brighter light next to me. I then saw a larger shape come from there after all the smaller ones left, then it obscured my vision. A noise sounded in my throat as I looked up at the thing in front of me, seeing the golden eye on top. Cyclops? Nah.

Breath hitched in my throat when it moved, I felt arms going around me before laying me flat in its grip. I blinked a couple times before looking back up at it, trying to make out the thing that's carrying me. I barely make out the bright area we enter, making me blink rapidly to adjust. Instincts come in and I struggle in their grip, causing it to tighten. I didn't have complete control over my arms so I managed to get one loose and fling it towards the 'eye'. I felt a hand let go of me, grab it before it could make contact, and drop it before I felt a pressure in my neck, causing me to fall limp. I trembled.

_What is this thing?_

I felt the spot where they struck sting, pain spreading up to my head.

I felt my chest heave for air, blood rushing in my ears before my vision went black.

_**TURTLE~**_

I rolled my head to the side, and gasped when pain shot up my arm. I gritted my teeth until it subsided, before relaxing again.

Wait. Am I moving? I stiffened when I noticed this. I tried moving my arms and legs, only to have them twitch off the table I'm on. I felt hands on my body, the familiar sound of decompressed air escaping… At once I snapped my eyes open, my head snapping to the side as I tried clearing my vision.

It's true. I was lying on a table, doors speeding by along with shocked, surprised, and other expression filled faces. I grunted and looked up the people pushing me, shouts and orders slowly coming to my ears. I absently looked at their white coats, mind ticking before it hit me.

I struggled against my restraints, my breath quickening as I panicked. I saw the heads closest to me whip in my direction, shock on their faces. A groan rung out before I felt my right wrist jerk free. Desperate hands on my limbs just made me panic more. I yanked at my left arm restraint, crushing the thin metal in my armor covered grip before I focused on the ones around my ankles. I couldn't move my right. I shot up, shoving the hands off of me as I pulled at them, they ending up like the other two. I elbowed the man next to me as I rolled off the now unmoving table. I fell to my hands and knees, scrambling away from the ones dressed in white. I looked down and noticed my left arm was armor-less. I stood, ignoring the shouts the doctors made as I snatched the pieces off the table before backing off. I clasped them on, resealing the rest of the air locks. They advanced, arms flailing about. Sweat beaded my brow as I turned and took off down the direction we came from.

People left and right moved out of my way if they saw me coming, I shoved the unsuspecting ones away before I had the chance to trample them.

I don't know how far I ran, but my chest was heaving by the time I stopped. I gasped for breath, leaning most of my weight on the wall, ignoring the stares I received.

"Master Chief?"

I looked over my shoulder, seeing two privates staring nervously at me.

_Eh?_

"Woooow… Was it really that rough down there, sir? I heard about the mission, the one with the beacon on Reach. How bad was-" The first one got cut off by his buddy.

"Is it true that another Spartan was down there?" Guess the guy couldn't hold the question in any longer, but sent an apologizing glance to his friend before looking up at me, face showing hope and awe.

My speakers crackled before I spoke.

"… yes."

Both of their faces lit up more.

"Was he alive?" The first one asked.

"… Barely. Now I have a question for you." I looked at their excited faces through half lidded, amused eyes. Wow, this "Master Chief" must not talk a lot. "Who's Master Chief?" I couldn't hold back the smirk as I stared at their wide eyed expressions. I let out a weak laugh before turning and walking away from the flabbergasted privates.

I turned a corner and froze. Two people in white coats were talking to some higher ups down the hall, hand motions frantic.

One of the higher ups just happened to look down the hall and see me, shouting something and pointing.

_Uh-oh._

As the rest of them turned to look, they only saw me turning the corner down the hallway.

I sprinted past more doors before my head spun. I closed my eyes and looked up. Huh? I got on my elbows and pushed myself up on my feet.

I staggered over to the wall; hand on my head as I waited for the dizziness to subside. Then I looked up and smirked.

_**TURTLE~**_

"Eeep!"

Damn I am so glad no one saw that!

I stared down at the thing, rubbing my wrist. _What the hell?_

I slowly bent down and picked up the dropped object. I turned it around in my hand, studying it. It looked like what one of those little guys back on Reach were carrying.

I turned it over, my eyes widening when it started glowing.

_What the…?_

Instincts told me to toss it and I did, just in time to fly back into a wall.

I groaned and rubbed my head, looking at the black smudge mark on the floor where I had stood. So that was a grenade. I stood and rolled my right shoulder, cracking it underneath the banged up armor. I glanced to my left and wearily stepped away from the crate full of grenades.

I looked around, unable to suppress the giddiness on my face as I surveyed the wall full of both familiar and alien weapons. I picked up a big gold and green weapon, hefting it on my good shoulder and walking up to the shooting range. Aiming and pulling the trigger, I nearly fell back at the recoil and watched as a big green blob made its way towards the target. Halfway there, it doubled in size. It exploded on contact and I grinned even more.

Walking back to the shelves, I replaced it and studied the wall again, choosing my next victim.

"So this was where you were." I jumped and spun around at the voice, my helmet hiding the shocked expression. I saw someone clad in similar armor, newer though, and upon further expectation, I read the white stenciled numbers on their left breast plate.

"Oh, you were looking for me?" I innocently asked, a smirk playing on my lips. He said nothing as he approached.

He stared, and I, unable to read his expression, wondered why he was doing so. Then I remembered my wounds and put my right hand on my left shoulder, over the wound.

"You should be in the medical bay."

"You know I hate doctors." He stared me down; a chill ran up my spine. At times like these, I hate being the shortest of our family. I turned my head, pretending to observe the wall filled with weapons of all kinds. "So… where is everybody?" I glanced at him when he stayed silent. I picked up a sniper rifle, noting it was much lighter than the ones I used to work with. I aimed it at the scorched target.

"Dead." I lost my balance, dropping the gun as it went off. The bullet flew through the air, bouncing off the floor, the wall, then the ceiling, heading straight back to us. The other Spartan merely tilted his head as the bullet went right passed it.

"W-w-what?" I stared at him like he was mad.

"They are dead." His voice was emotionless, cold even.

"Is this some kind of… j-joke? _**Dead?**__Tell_ me that that's just a-a joke!" I started rambling, calling out to the hall for the others to come in and laugh at me. I flinched and shut up when the one in front of me grabbed my shoulders and shook me. I slowly opened my eyes, looking up at him before he spoke slowly, his low voice lacked emotion.

"They. Are. _Dead."_ The gold HUD on his helmet showed my helmet's reflection. My blood ran cold.

_Dead…?_ I felt him let go before I staggered backwards, falling against the shelf of weapons. Some fell; I barely felt an assault rifle knock my helmet as I stared wordlessly at the ground. The word echoed in my mind, repeating over and over as I felt pressure filled with each that came.

_Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. __**Dead.**_

"You couldn't have put it down gentler?" I didn't acknowledge the new voice as my guts twisted, my heart tightening. The words spoken between my brother and the newcomer were faint in my mind.

"She needed to know."

"Yeah but you could've let her know more gently. Think, it was hard losing them one by one, but all at once? Cut her some slack, Chief."

I blocked out the rest as I gripped my helmet, ignoring the burning pain in my left as I squeezed my eyes shut.

_No no no no no!_

My breath hitched as my shoulders shook. I bent my knees and brought them to my chest as the truth hit me again and again.

I felt the two pair of eyes on me as I started to break down.

"How?" I winced at the crack in my voice.

"… Reach, missions, Harvest. The list goes on. A lot can happen in 12 years." His emotionless voice just made my shattered heart hurt more. How can he not feel anything when our siblings _died?_

I didn't bother holding in the sob, didn't bother holding back the tears in my eyes as they streamed down my face.

"H…" I swallowed, trying to keep my voice level without much luck. "How many are left?"

The brief silence told me the two looked at each other before the newcomer answered me.

"About 8 that we know of… then there are the disabled..." I let out a low moan. 24 of my brothers and sisters. Gone.

It took a long time for me to nod, the shock settling in. I heard the military man turn away.

"I'll, uh… I'll leave you two alone…" And with that, he walked out, closing the door behind him.

I dug my fingers into my helmet, creating fingertip sized markings before I ripped it off, hurtling it through the air to hit the opposite wall, leaving a decent sized dent behind. I let out a strangled cry, not caring that John sees my tears, and proceeded to cry my heart out, hugging myself as I did so.

_**TURTLE~**_

I watched her helmet soar through the air before hitting the wall, leaving a dent in the bullet proof metal coating. I looked back and froze.

Under the tears and grime, she looked the same as she did all those years ago. Gray eyes shone through the mess of black hair that framed her face and cascaded over her shoulders. Her face still held some baby fat, somehow keeping it after years of harsh training, adding to her childish personality. Scratches and bruises littered her face, but there was no mistake. This was the baby of the family. I remained still as she doubled over, hugging herself as she curled into a little ball and mourned.

I looked over my shoulder and saw Johnson poking his head inside the room. He glared at me and waved his hand, silently telling me to do something. I turned back to my distressed sibling, trying to figure out what I should do. Well, I did what I knew how to do.

"Get up." She looked up at me, trying to see past the tears. "You're a Spartan; we all knew things like this would happen. So get up, and stop crying. Spartans aren't supposed to cry." I heard the distinct sound of a slap. I looked over my shoulder to see Johnson holding a hand over his eyes. He stormed into the room, sending a glare at me as he passed, kneeling next to the crying girl.

"Now listen, miss. What he is _trying_ to say," He sent another glare back

at me, before turning back to her. "Is that tears won't bring them back. I know for a fact that they wouldn't want you to cry for too long. They would want you to go on with life, be happy." She looked up at him, tears stopping. She regarded him for a long time before cracking a smile.

"You sure do know how to make a girl feel better." Johnson put his cigar back in his mouth with a smirk.

"I know what the ladies like." She laughed before sitting up, rubbing the heel of a palm to her eye. She looked at me, then back at Johnson. "I'm sorry, who are you?"

"Sergeant Major Avery Johnson, at your service." He held a hand out to her, to which she took with a smile.

"Petty Officer Second Class, Spartan- 113, Jessie. Nice to meet ya, sir." He nodded before standing, turning back to me.

"See? _That's_ how you cheer a sad girl up." I grunted and turned around, beginning to walk towards the door.

"Where ya going, John?" I heard her ask.

"_We_ are going to the medical bay." I stopped and turned back to her, waiting for her to follow. She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes.

"Like I said, I do _not _want to go anywhere near there."

"Too bad. You're going."

"Just 'cause you're older than me doesn't mean you get to boss me around." I walked closer to her, looking down at her.

"I rank higher than you."

"What?" She uncrossed her arms, surprised. She glared up at me. "Since when?"

"Two months after you entered cyro."

"God damn it."


	7. Doctor's visit :D

**A/N: Hey guys, sorry it's been a while. I've been having writer's block for all three stories, sorry about that. Still have some, especially with the other two. I'll update them in a little bit. Oh, and those of you who are reading My Life, I deleted the newest chapter, CH 10 I think it was. There's a lot of reasons, the main one was I reread it and I hated it. So… I'll explain more when I update it. Probably… I donno, it could be tomorrow… or two weeks… If it gets to two weeks I'm going to write the chapter, writer's block or not. 'Kay? I'll just try and not let it suck.**

**Anyways, thank you for everyone who has read, liked, fav'ed, and reviewed. This first half is pretty much fun for me. Enjoy ^^**

**Couple parts of this chapter are just fillers and things I find funny and amused myself with.**

**UPDATE: Changed a few things at the end, not worth rereading unless if you want to. Just changed the armor to be the same as MC's, mostly because the guy had already ordered it and I had an idea for an upcoming chapter. Stay tuned :P**

**UPDATE: Thanks to alonsis 2, I fixed the wall of text. Thanks dude :P**

**UPDATE: *pinches nose* Still some mistakes. This sucks since I hate rereading my chapters over and over and over. It's fine if it's a new chapter, to edit it, but not past chapters. I absolutely hate doing that. So sorry if there's any more mistakes after this**

"No- _NO! _**GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!"**

…

"_**EEEK!**_ _Put me down!_"

"Hold still."

"_HEEEEEELP!"_

**Bam.**

"_Ow…"_

I was currently being suspended in the air by the back of my shirt, a bruise no doubt forming on the back of my head. I huffed, reluctantly letting the hands work on my arm.

"You don't have to man… _sss… _manhandle me." I hissed more as the alcohol ran into the infective wound.

"You'll run."

"Yeah, like that's a bad thing?" I flinched as the skin around the gash got jerked. "Hey, could ya be a bit more careful?"

"You broke a guy's _hand._"

"Yeah, I have a history of doing that, don't I?" I hung limp in the grasp again, only to have my wounded arm "accidently" swing and hit the doctor in the face. He yelped and fell on his butt while John turned me around and stared at me through his helmet. I gave him a sheepish smile.

"Not my fault I had a spasm."

"Yeah, a "spasm"."

The doctor sent me a glare, to which I stuck my tongue out at him.

"I have worked with countless of soldiers, including Spartans, and never have I had to restrain one of them."

"Well buddy, there's a first for everything." I smirked, having it be wiped off my face the next moment.

"Get used to it; you'll be seeing a lot of her."

"_Hey!"_

_**Turtle**_

"_**GET THAT THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!"**_ I screeched, flailing my limbs about, injured or not I am **not**letting that thing near me.

"Quit being such a wuss, it's just a shot." A doctor, different than the first, said.

"_Noooo…~"_ I wiggled in the air, trying to get the medical needle away. "Why don't you just make me _drink_ it instead of fucking _stabbing_ me with a needle to get it into me?"

"We could always inject it through your r-"

"No, no. Needles are good."

_**Turtle~**_

"Hey, what's going on?"

"Hey Johnson. The fucker just gave me a shot after threatening me." Jessie sat on the chair, rubbing her arm as she glared at the doctor that sported a black eye.

"What?"

"She doesn't like needles." Chief pointed out emotionlessly as he stood near me. I walked over and pulled the Chief to the side, turning our backs on the female Spartan as she grumbled to herself.

"Why didn't he just use the pills?" Chief shrugged.

"There were pills? Oh you _jackass!"_

_**Turtle…**_

"Want an apple?" Johnson asked, holding said item towards me.

"Don't people usually get lollipops after a trip to the doctor's?" I raised my eyebrow at him.

"Yes, but like they say; 'an apple a day keeps the doctor away'."

"_Or, _I could always take it and shove it up their-" Johnson roared with laughter.

"Damn it John, I _like_ this kid!"

_**Tuuuurrrrrtllllle…**_

We walked down the halls, I clad in my old, falling apart armor next to my brother and Johnson. The latter was currently telling me all that had happened recently; destruction of the first and second halos, what the halos were all about, the crazy religion some old ugly lazyassed aliens called "Prophets" had convinced other alien species of this so called "Great Journey", and the fact that one of the species had broke apart from the Covenant.

"What species were they?" Johnson nodded his head, eyes forward.

"Well there's one right now." I looked ahead and stopped, face pale.

The creature standing down the hall was _tall._ Stood about a foot or so over my 6'4" height, dark hide was covered in some kind of shiny silver armor, bronze eyes looking around before spotting us and started making its way over towards us. Its legs had two knees, hoof-like feet, long arms, and it had two fingers and a thumb on either side of its hand. Its mouth looked like it was split in half, creating four mandibles, and from what I can see, _very_ sharp teeth. I have seen this kind of creature before.

Before it got within ten feet of us, I grabbed Johnson's side arm and pointed it at the alien's head. Before I could press the trigger, it was grabbed and yanked out of my hands by the older Spartan on the side of me. The alien had stopped when he saw the gun, getting into a defensive position. I hid behind my sibling right after the handgun was yanked from my grip. I saw Johnson gesture with his head towards the tall alien, before it continued making its way over. It greeted my two companions, before its eyes settled on me, who was peeking out from behind the larger Spartan. Before I could react, John had stepped to the side and pushed me forward. I tensed up as I had to look up at the creature's face.

"This is the Arbiter; Arbiter, this is Jessie, a Spartan like John here." I didn't say anything, just quietly trying to back up but failing with John's hand still on my shoulder. Luckily, Johnson kept talking.

"Jessie, the Arbiter is kind of like one of the bosses of the elites." I was too busy studying my feet, too tense to notice the annoyed glance the alien gave the sergeant.

"We are called Sangheili." I nearly jumped when he spoke in a deep voice, before chuckling.

"There is no need to be afraid, human, we are allies." I furrowed my brows, a frown on my lips as I remembered the ones attacking me for the first time. I swallowed the small bit of resentment in my gut and looked up at him.

"When was that?"

"A few months ago, why?" He seemed to raise a non-existent eyebrow at me.

"Just checking." I shook off John's hand and walked over to the wall. The three of them talked to each other as I remembered the first and second fight with his kind. I looked up when they all started to walk away, before quickly following behind. The Arbi… Arby, yeah just gonna call him that for now… slowed down in its stride to walk beside me.

After a few quiet moments of listening to Johnson and John talking, Johnson doing most of the work, the deep voice startled me once more.

"You have met my species before, haven't you?" I glanced over at Arby, wondering how he knew. "It shows in your walk and your eyes." I looked down at the ground.

"I've met you guys twice; both times in combat. You guys were with these bird like aliens along with the little squeaky-voiced guys. Oh, and the big, bulky armored orange and blue ones."

"Those are Kig-yar, Unggoy, and Mgalekgolo. There are also Huragok, or 'engineers' humans call them. They may be the most intelligent beings in the universe, you may see one later on. Some of them have been able to escape the Covenant, helping the humans with their technology repairs." He looked at me, looking me up and down. The blush on my face faded once he spoke next.

"I believe they are working on some new armor for you, your current one is in critical condition." I nodded, before a thought came to mind.

"What about the giant bugs and the smelly monkeys?" His mandibles turned upwards, in what looked like an odd smile.

"Yanme'e and Jiralhanae. Or, as humans call them, Drones and Brutes." I nodded, before boredly turning my head to look in the open doorways we pass. Each door we passed; training rooms, shooting ranges, other halls; the more of these… Sangheili's I saw. I glanced at the Arb… Arbiter, yeah that's his name… before looking ahead. I took this time to think, yet before I knew what I was thinking about, my heart was heavy as my mind drifted to my siblings.

I squeezed my eyes shut before looking down at the helmet in my hands, looking over the damage as a distraction. Dents and scratches littered the metal, dirt and grime covered it along with colorful splashes… uh… yeah.

I fingered a certain deeper scratch in the helmet, the edges seemed melted. It was from a close call with one of those glowing swords, nearly sliced my head in half. I turned it over and stared back at my reflection. My mid back ebony hair was messy and frizzy, hanging over my shoulders and down my back. Scratches were occasionally seen on my face, a bruise on my cheekbone was painstakingly obvious. I looked down into my reflection's eyes, the gray shown back an ashy color. A crack split the golden shield in half, shifted slightly so one side was pointed outward more than the other. I noticed another crack, near the lower right. It went diagonal, down to the left, separating that corner from the rest. _Must have been from when I threw it._ I concluded.

Quietly, before anyone outside our little group could see my face, I put it on. It sealed shut, and the HUD came online. I looked left, and saw the radar dysfunctional, the newer crack going right through it. I looked to the other side; the handgun on my thigh had only two bullets left, no extra magazines, and I had no grenades.

I looked up. Shield was down, but I was pretty much healthy. I rolled my shoulder just the tiniest bit, careful of the healing wound. The doctor had me unbound it, seeing as this armor would be most likely tossed, and it now hung semi-loose at my side. My right leg still caused for me to limp, but the doctor had put some kind of salve on it to help with the freezer burn. He said that it'd take a couple days to get the full feeling back in it, and a few more to make it physically fade. I took it off again, registering it useless for now. I then proceeded to collide with a wall. Said 'wall' turned around and I could just _feel_ the look he gave me. I smiled and looked around him.

"Where are we?" He voicelessly pointed at the sign right beside me. I stared at it before grinning sheepishly. "Mah bad." I scratched the back of my head before following the other three into the armory.

"Hey gunny, is the armor ready or what?"

"Keep your pants on Johnson." A man said, back to us as he and a pink floating thing worked on something on the table. "Why does it matter anyways? … Did he destroy his already?"

"Not exactly." Johnson walked over next to the man, peering down at the project.

"John?" I whispered. My brother didn't look at me, it didn't matter because my eyes were on the pink thing floating around, grabbing a few stuff before going back to the table. "…What is that?"

"Engineer." He curtly said, walking further into the room. I hung back as the Arbiter walked away from us, joining the group around the table.

"Well? … Did you get the new armor or not?"

"Yeah I did. But he _better_ have not ruined the one I gave him the other month. If he did I'll-"

"_He _is right behind you." I jumped and whipped my head around. _What the hell?_ The guy turned around pretty fast for his age. Gray was taking over his hair; his dark eyes were wide in surprise while his hard looking features were in shock.

"Oh," He coughed in his hand. "I didn't see you there."

"Obviously." I jumped again. _Where is that coming from? _The voice giggled, letting me pin point its position and I stared at John with a wide-eyed, jaw slacked expression. I raised an eyebrow, crossing my arms.

"John…" I began slowly. "Is there something I should know?" The voice full out laughed before speaking, amused. "My name is Cortana; I am the AI that accompanies Chief on missions. Hang on." I jumped when a small blue lady with purple eyes dressed in a jumpsuit appeared on the table beside me. She smiled before nodding her head. "It's nice to meet you, Jessie."

"It's nice to… meet you too?" I ended up asking. She smiled again before flickering. "I will have to leave you for now; I have to check the ship's status." I nodded before John walked over to Cortana and took a chip from his helmet, inserting it into a slot beneath the platform. Cortana flickered before vanishing. "So…" "Not a word."

"Fiiiine…." I looked up to see Johnson and the one guy stop talking, looking at me. "… What?"

"So the rumors were true, you did find another Spartan. On Reach no less."

_**...**_

"Jessie, come here, you get to pick out what kind of armor ya want because some dipshit didn't follow orders." Johnson smirked as the guy narrowed his eyes at him.

"I did as I was told, you never told me what type of armor to order. Plus, how was I suppose to know that this wouldn't be the same as the last one?"

"Last one?" I looked up at John, his shielded face telling me nothing as he stood stock still. I looked over at Johnson when he sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"One other time we had a beacon come from a planet, only to find out it was old. That's why we waited a few days before we went down to your location."

"Oh… wait. A few days? How long is a few days?"

"About a week." I stared at him long and hard, before speaking slowly.

"You mean to tell me… that if you had gone right when you found my signal… I would have avoided _this_ whole deal?" I pointed to my shoulder.

"Er… yes actually."

"…"

**_... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..._**

"So, which set did you pick?"

"I'm stuck between the CQB and the Scout armor."

"Well what are your specialties?" I looked back at Johnson with a smirk. "Besides reaping havoc? I'm pretty good with hand-to-hand, but I'm also stealthy."

"Too late for ordering another MJNOIR suit, it wouldn't be here until after the mission." Cortana's voice came out of the intercom.

"Mission?" I looked up but almost fell out of my seat when she appeared in front of me. "Quit doing that!" She laughed.

"But it's fun."

"Cortana." We glanced at John before she got down to business. "We found another Halo ring, and so have the brutes are close to finding it as well. Your mission is to land on that thing and do with it like the others." She looked at John. "Destroy it before the brutes have the chance to activate it..."

"When is it?" I asked, laying my chin on my arms.

"A week or two; depends on if the brutes figure out where it is."

"Why?" I raised an eyebrow.

"You need training." I looked back at John, eyes narrowed.

"Training? I just spent my whole life training, you defiantly know that. Why do I need to train _again?"_

"Just to freshen up on your skills, nothing serious." Cortana reassured, bringing my narrowed eyes back to her.

"I don't _need_ to freshen up on anything. I want to kick some butt and call it a day."

"You _also_ need to learn about the new weapons." I looked away, admitting defeat.

"Fine…" I looked up. "But only a week, no more." Cortana looked to Johnson, he nodded in agreement.

"Come on, I'll fill you in on what else has been happening."


	8. New and Old Friends

**A/N: Hey crazy people! If you haven't noticed, I haven't updated this story for about 2 months. Why would that be Bio? Why, that would be because I was playing Halo Reach since it came out! Bio, shame on you for not posting another chapter, being distracted is no excuse! Actually, it is an excuse, just not a very good one to hear :P Plus this chapter is late because of stupid retarded school. 2 and a half more years left! That's right, I'm a sophmore. *crowd cheers and I gag* Yup, more homework, lugging around my whole locker, and more people that want to make my life miserable. Actually that last one hasn't happened. Yet. There's always the 'yet'. No, I seriously do not like school; like the rest of the teen population. Except for you nerds. Nah, I'm kidding, nerds rock.**

**But seriously, I've been having writer's block for My Life until recently, and I just posted the new chapter a couple days ago so check it out if you hadn't done so! Also, changed a few things in the last chapter, but it's not worth going back and rereading the whole chapter unless if you want to. It's just that the guy had already ordered the armor and because he thought that Chief had to have another set **_**again**_**, so **_**soon, **_**Jess now has the same armor as MC. That is for a future idea, no I am not trying to copy him or anyone else, yatta yatta. OH! And read My Life if I haven't already told you that. Suspense is coming up in a few chapters in that story, so READ IT!**

**Bwah, I love all of you. Sappy and cheesy thing to say since I don't know more than 5% of you but oh well, I'm going to go ahead and be creepy and share the love! Bah now I'm starting to creep myself out.**

**Before I tell you to go ahead and read (but more than half of you have probably skipped this note, you damn bastards [kidding!]) I just wanted to say that I made apple muffins! :D yes, random thing to say, but I love them. I've already eaten many. Oh, I don't feel too good... XD**

**Also: '... ... ... ...' means scene change. And just '...' for future reference just means a pause. Thank you for listening, and if someone says that they get confused when the scene changes, I'll know you didn't read the author's note and have full rights of chewing your ear off. So, for those of you still reading, GOOD FOR YOU! COOKIES FOR EVERYONE! –showers you with cookies, then one hits someone in the eye- erm... I'm running now.**

**Enjoy!**

**PS: Still have writer's block for Unspoken, so that'll be for a while. I have no idea where to go from the last spot. sorry**

**ALSO: I'm grounded, so the production for this story and My Life is on hold until further notice. Sorry**

"Haha! This is great!" I twirled the large weapon around, pointing the laser at random things for a couple seconds, but then letting the trigger go before it could go off. My damp hair flung around with my movements, almost dry from the shower I finished earlier. It felt _very_ good to be able to shower, and I took advantage of the hot water for almost an hour. Now I was clean, happy, and... less hairy. Have you ever tried not shaving for a few months? Try that for a couple of years. Let me tell you; it gets old and uncomfortable very fast. So uncomfortable, I used whatever kind of knife I could find and try shaving. Didn't work too well because the sharp knives, if handled incorrectly, cut me, and when I resorted to a butter knife _one time_, it didn't do anything. So then I went back to sharp knives. That took about three minutes of awkward explaining to do to the doctor for when he checked my leg, seeing all the faint scars and scabs from when I messed up.

The door opened, old drilled in reflexes made me whip around and point the gun to the doorway, finger hovering over the trigger, meeting a couple of shocked faces.

"Hey point that somewhere else!" I lowered the gun, turning around with a sheepish smile. I was out of my destroyed armor, letting the techie people deal with it as they pleased while I kept the helmet in my new room. I was wearing a black T-shirt with brown pants since I'm waiting for my everyday clothes to be delivered. It felt weird not being in my armor, but thankfully I wasn't completely uncomfortable out of it. Actually, and unsurprisingly, I felt a hell of a lot lighter. Then Sergeant Johnson told me to experiment with the weapons, and that's what I've been doing for the last 15 minutes.

"Sorry, just testing out the new equipment." I glanced over my shoulder while the people walked into the room, all dressed in casual, standard gray UNSC T-shirts and sweatpants. There were three guys, the one in the middle had short buzz cut hair and hazel eyes, the one on the left was a blond with blue eyes, and the one on the right was Hispanic; black messy hair, brown eyes, and tanned skin that contrasted greatly with the white walled shooting range.

"New? That ain't new, where've ya been? Under a rock?"

"By the color of your face it looks like you have." I glared at the Hispanic and the brunette.

"Hey, s'not my fault I haven't been shown this stuff." I hefted the SPARTAN laser over my shoulder, returning it back to the shelves full of weapons. "Where I come from all we got is from a decade or so back."

"Oh yeah? And where was that?" The question wasn't sarcastic, but genuinely curious. I looked at the younger blonde man; he couldn't have been over 18. He seemed… nicer than the other two, but knows his place. I sat the gun in its place, before picking up a rocket launcher. Standing to my full height before leaning on one leg, I set the weapon on my shoulder as I looked at them with my head tilted to one side.

"Reach."

I could've laughed at their expressions if I wasn't in the bad mood they made me be in. Brown hair took a step back in shock as the Hispanic man gaped like a fish. Blondie just looked up at me like a curious kid.

"Were you one of the survivors the others went to retrieve?" I raised an eyebrow at his behavior, and also what he said.

"There were others? That were sane?"

"Yeah, well, most of them anyways. It's amazing that people have been there for almost three years since the glassing and we just found them now. You'd think the radios there would still work."

"Oh no, I'm sure they did. It's just hard to find any electricity to charge them. Strangely, the only thing I found still working was the freezers in an old grocery store."

"Really? That's so-"

"How are you doing that?" We looked at his two friends.

"Eh?" We looked at each other, then back to the men.

"She just came from Reach, and you're not surprised?" Hispanic man exclaimed.

"Well… it's not that surprising to me since I come from Reach too."

"Oh you grew up there too?"

"Yeah, not as fun as it sounded. You didn't see _any_ of the Spartans who trained there unless if there was Covenant involved. Even then it was at a distance."

"Ah…" I just nodded my head, deciding to keep my secret a little longer.

"You never told us you were from Reach!" Brown haired pointed out, before quickly adding. "And don't say because we never asked."

"But you didn't!" I laughed as they argued, setting the rocket launcher back on the shelf after a quick look over.

"You guys are okay. What's your names?"

"Tyler." Brown haired.

"Lopez." Awesome Spanish looking person.

"Dillon." Blondie.

"Cool. My name's Jessie." I took a look at a long staff like weapon before lifting it, immediately bending my legs to minimize strain on my back as I held it.

"Ah, watch it. That's a Gravity Hammer. Chieftain Brutes use that to smoke us good. Pretty heavy so it's no surprise for a beginner to act like that." Lopez said, waving his hand as he explained.

"Beginner?" I smirked, raising an eyebrow. "I'm no beginner, _amigo_; I've been in the military for _years."_

"Really? How many years, you don't look too old." Dillon said.

"You're glad I'm taking that as a compliment." I pointed at his nose, making him go cross-eyed as he tried to follow it. "That information is classified, unfortunately for you."

"Oh I get it," Tyler waved his hands by his head as he rolled his eyes. "A woman thing, right?" I rolled my eyes.

"Sure," I sighed. "You could say that." I looked at the hammer, fixing my hands on it before turning to a practice dummy a few yards away. "So how do you use it? Just swing-" I jumped back a few feet as the hammer crashed into the dummy, successfully making the wooden pole holding it up snap and let it fly backwards. "Holy shit!" I dropped it, somehow it not going off again as I backed away. "The fuck was that?"

"Such a dirty mouth for a girl." Okay, Tyler is really getting on my nerves now.

"Shut the fuck up." I growled, picking it up again before setting it in its place on the shelf. "Okay, what else is there?" I picked up what looked like a stick. I stared at it for a few minutes before turning around, holding it out in front of me. "Ok, what the hell is this?"

"Energy sword. That one's a training one so it won't cut through someone." Lopez said as I stared down at the stick.

"… It's a stick."

Silence.

"It's a _stick._ What the hell am I suppose to do? Beat someone to death with a _stick?_ It's not like it hasn't been done before, but _seriously?_"

"Squeeze it." I looked at Lopez with an eyebrow raised.

"'cuse me?" He smirked.

"Squeeze it." I sighed before doing so, dropping it in the process.

"_**THAT**__ thing!"_

"Seen it before?" I picked it up, but this one was glowing green. Probably since it's a training one or something. I swung it at the floor, no scratch. I brought it to my skin, no burning sensation like it looks like it'd give you.

"Heck yeah, back on Reach. All sorts of bastards attacked me, then I come here and find out one of the species that attacked me are our allies now? It gets confusing."

"You've never seen one of the Covenant or an elite? Jeez, how long _were_ you under that rock?" Tyler raised an eyebrow. I looked at the glowing blade again, flicking my hand to deactivate it.

"Too long."

… … ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

"Damn, how tall _are_ you?" Ah, that's right. All three of them are 5'10" or shorter.

"I don't know, about 6'4"?"

"_How?"_

"I come from a... _big_ kind of family."

… ... ... ... ... ... ... …

It's only been a few hours since meeting my three newest friends, and we've grown on each other considerably. Lopez is the funny guy, Dillon is the little brother type, and Tyler… there's no words to describe him. Well, _positive_ words I should say. So far he's been okay, but he's the cocky guy in the group that can get annoying fast. Having patience skills drilled into me since a kid; I can deal with him and his attitude.

For now at least.

"Hey, look at that. It's Sergeant Major and that Spartan." Dillon whispered, staring at the two conversing higher-ups as they entered the room.

"What's so great about a Spartan anyways?" I turn to Tyler.

"What do you mean?" I stopped myself from narrowing my eyes as he continued.

"They take all the glory! When we marines go on missions and get stuck with one of them, they get all the fame, while we're the ones getting our heads blasted off!" His fist connected with the table, being muffled from the excited conversations around us as they, too, looked on at the two heroes. "Sergeant Major is a true hero, not one a phony like those Spartans. This guy has been on this ship for a while, and so far, he only talks to the Major and other higher ups, not paying attention to anyone lower than him. He walks like he owns the place."

"That can't be true…" I looked over at John, seeing his helmet move ever so slightly every now and then as Johnson talked to him, walking towards the less crowded area of the mess hall.

"But it is! He never talks to anyone except if they're important, he had let the fame go to his head and now he's walking all over like he beat the whole war."

"Well he kinda did."

"Shut up Dillon. _We_ won the war, we _died_ for this war. _We _are the ones _still_ dying for the war, yet do we get any credit?"

"Yes-" Dillon obviously was thinking of the medals marines and other military people had gotten, but Tyler ignored him.

"-No. That Spartan bastard just takes all the fame and leaves us with clean up duty."

I felt my anger spike but my training let me hide it; whether I want to or not. Yet I couldn't help the tension in my shoulders as he continued on.

"Everyone thinks that Spartans are just so _'perfect'_. 'Spartans can do the impossible.' 'Spartans are the perfect soldiers.' Well if they're the perfect soldiers, then how come there are only a few left? 'Oh Spartans never die' yeah fucking right. If anyone were to ask," He leaned back and sipped his drink. "I'm happy that they're almost extinct. They're all bastards, each and every one of them." Rage boiled in my gut, my hand clenching into a twitching fist as it longed to bash Tyler's face in.

"That's not true, Phillips." Four heads whipped around to see a man in a black jumpsuit-like uniform. I noticed in the corner of my eye that Tyler instantly glared at who it was. He had brown hair and dark brown eyes, a gleaming smile on his face. He stood about 5'11" and was relaxed as Tyler started going at him.

"Says you!" He shouted, earning a few heads around our table to turn.

"Have you ever even been _near _a Spartan, son? They ain't half of the things you have said now." The burn in my gut died a little as he spoke. Tyler stood up. After knowing him less than a few hours, I had also quickly learned that he had a short fuse, especially at being accused wrong.

"How would you know? I'll bet you haven't either!" The stranger held his hands out in front of him, waving them while he looked away with a smile.

"No need to shout, son, I'm just stating facts. And I indeed have had the privilege to know a Spartan. He wasn't anything like you had mentioned. He acted just like any of us would."

"Us? _You_ are not one of _us!_ _You_ are an ODST; you're almost as bad as a Spartan!" I leaned over to Dillon.

"What's an ODST?" I whispered, his look adding to my confusion.

"You've never heard of ODST? They're-"

"Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, miss. Corporal James-"

"DON'T IGNORE ME!" James turned back to the red faced Tyler.

"Ignore who?" Damn this guy knows how to tick Tyler off. I wonder if they've known each other for a while. Oh well.

I glanced over to the Major and John, seeing Johnson's eyes flicker over to our table a couple times and John's helmet started to turn.

"Well! It's been nice chatting to you guys but, I gotta go." I stood and began speed walking away but stopped when Tyler yelled.

"Where the fuck are you going? I'm not finished with you!" I glanced to the side, jumping in my skin when James was right there. He glanced and winked at him, infuriating him even more. He turned to me as we exited the mess hall, I noting that John and Johnson had begun making their way over to the door before it closed. I turned left, James did the same.

"Thanks." I looked at him. "He would've gone on longer if you hadn't given me the chance to escape. Thanks for that."

"Err, sure…" I helped him? He got himself into the conversation!

"Let me properly introduce myself. Corporal James Adams, ODST, at your service miss." I shook his hand.

"P… Just call me Jessie."

"You don't look like a civilian." He nodded to my apparel.

"Nope."

"… So you're going to tell me your rank or not?"

"Nope!" I smiled.

"Ah, classified eh?"

"Sure is." _Nah not really. Just don't want to tell you, you might figure it out._

"Jessie!" We both turn to see Johnson walking up to us. We saluted.

"At ease." He turned to me. "Training time, missy. Meet your instructors in the training room I showed you, and bring your armor. You'll need it."

"But I already gave it to the techies." He smirked.

"Fine, we'll substitute. Just be there in 5 minutes."

"Sir!" I saluted as he walked off, James following my action. He turned to me.

"What was that about?"

"Just came from a deserted planet and I have to catch up in my training, that's all. I'll see you later James." I waved, leaving him in the middle of the hall as I ran off. Confused, he shook his head and walked away.

… … … … … … … … … … … … …

"JOHNSON!" The man in question turned, smirking behind the lit cigar.

"Well you look mighty fine in that suit." A growl answered him.

"Johnson… Do you really expect me to train in _this?_" I gestured to the old black uniform, the sleeves too short and the pant legs too long.

"It was all we could find in your size." He blew some smoke out of his nose before waving me over. "Now come meet your trainers." I groaned but complied. The door slid open and I noticed two people leaning against the wall and equipment. Their heads turned in my direction and I froze. Before my mind could put names to faces, I was tackled on both sides.

"EEEK!"

"_JESS!_" "_YOU __**ARE**__ ALIVE!"_

"GAK- not for long!" Going… unconscious… need… air…

I felt the grip lessen, but only enough to let me breathe. I gasped before turning my eyes to my attackers, brightening up noticeably.

"Mike, Jai! What- You- _How?"_

"Johnson contacted the rest of us and we were the closest so we came as soon as the message got out!" Mike whooped, hugging me again. Mike's the brainiac of Grey Team. But he's also the crazy one of the bunch, making jokes and poking fun at Jai and Adriana. Jai's the unofficial leader, even though the other two members of Grey Team do not always follow his orders, he usually makes the strategies and guides the team through the missions. Grey Team is infamous for their escape attempts; when they were younger, Mike was known to learn something by watching it once. When we all were being flown to our first mission, Mike learned how to fly a pelican by watching the pilot, then a few days later he stole one and soon blew it up. I've suspected a little pyromania in him since that day.

"That is, only the higher ups and other active Spartans got the message. The ones back on Earth were too far out of reach to be contacted properly." The statement saddened me for a moment, the memory of the survivors, before giving myself a mental shake.

"That reminds me, where's Adriana?" I looked to Jai.

Adriana is the last member of Grey Team. She had a rebellious nature, making escape attempts not to escape, but as a form of rebellion against her trainers. If it wasn't for her, Jai would not have come back to the program.

"She stayed behind. She was wounded in our last fight, her leg pretty banged up, but the doctors say that another few days in the tube and she'll be good." I frowned, eyebrows going together.

"I hope so, she's a good Spartan." She and I weren't really good friends, we didn't know everything about each other, but we had our laughs and memorable times. We tolerated each other, on the borderline of friendship, but we never really made it there. She's still a nice person. "Give her a hug for me, will ya?" Jai nodded and Mike hugged me, happy to see me still. He can be such a kid sometimes.

I hugged Mike back, swinging an arm over Jai's shoulders, bringing him into the hug too. After a happy moment, we all let go with a laugh.

"Damn… when Johnson said you guys were still… here… I never thought I'd be able to see you guys _this_ soon!"

"Yeah, but… we didn't… I mean…" Mike looked away, rubbing his neck.

"Think I made it? Yeah, well… Being frozen for ten years then walking around for another few? Didn't think I'd see you again either." I punched him in the arm and he smiled.

"Okay, _what_ are you wearing?" Jai gestured to my clothes, laughing. I mock glared at him, giving him a lopsided smile.

"What? Don't like my new look?"

"No." He looked completely serious. Silence.

We burst out laughing.

"You look like a deformed ODST!" Mike laughed.

"Yeah, Johnson said _this_ was the best substitute for my armor. I'm thinking he just wanted a good laugh."

"Probably!"

"Okay, enough chatter. Let's get down to business." Same old Jai. Mike and I groaned. "Too bad, Jessie needs it."

"_John_ says I need it. But _I_ don't. I completed training before I got stuck in the freezer, I don't need to be trained anymore." I glared at the wall as I mentioned his name.

Mike and Jai exchanged looks when my focus was turned.

"Come on Jess, it's been _twelve years. _There's **always** something to learn after that long."

"Yeah, weapons. But we're not _in_ the weapons room, are we? No, we're in the training room. Why? Because they say I need training…" I slowly turned to them. "You guys… you don't think I need it too, do you?"

"Uh" "Well" "Not exactly" "I wouldn't say…" "No?"

"I can't _believe_ this!" I threw my hands in the air, giving them a glare. "You _agree?_ You two perfectly well know that I do _not_ need any more training! I can't _believe_ you two!"

"Jessie, listen…" Jai tried.

"No! I have enough training; I'm good for the mission. Just tell them that I'm all ready and… and let's just get this over with!"

"Jessie!" I stopped. Mike never yells. He sighed, calming down. "Jessie… You don't know everything that has happened since you got frozen. You had never even _seen_ the enemy until you thawed out. Yes, you managed to fight them off. Yes, you are capable of taking care of yourself. But what if the ones you fought weren't the strongest? If you haven't been up against any Covenant that wasn't in blue armor, you'd be screwed. Blues are minors, the weakest ones. You don't even _want_ to know how strong a chieftain is." I stared at him long and hard before giving in. I sighed and nodded, holding my hands up.

"Fine, you got me. Let's get to it."

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

"How is she doing?" I turned to the woman next to me and nodded to the one-way window.

"Pretty good so far." She sighed as I turned back to watch. Three regular-looking human beings were fighting a floor below, unable to see their watchers. Moving at inhuman speeds, the smallest blocked, dodged, and countered each attack the other two gave. The movements themselves were just masses of blurs, but on the special camera, it was taped to show slow and clear. A screen on the panel in front of me showed the footage taken from said camera.

"I don't know; I'm just not sure if she is ready yet…"

"Don't worry, this kid will do fine." Cortana put a hand on her cheek and leaned back.

"Johnson, I sure hope you're right."


	9. Green blob of goo! :D

**A/N: Yo people, updating again. Yes, I'm supposed to be grounded, and I am don't get me wrong, but my mom didn't take away my laptop or itouch (and she defiantly can't take away the 360- she's not suppose to lift heavy stuff), but I am being a rebel. Yeah... not too rebellious... but I'm probably only being rebellious because no one's home from 3-6 usually, and mom doesn't get home until at least 7:30, so I'm pretty much in the clear until then. Of course if I get caught then my grounding will be extended, but that's a risk I'm stupidly willing to take.**

**Eh, what was I about to say? Ah, crap I forget... let me come back to this when I remember...**

**Oh yeah! Funny thing; Forgotten has been getting more views and hits than My Life! I find that hilarious because My Life was my first story on here for a while before I started this one. Oh dad's home, oh well he doesn't know I'm grounded. Which I got confused of because yesterday he asked if I was playing games down here (I'm in the basement, in the TV room to be exact), when I was really doing my Spanish stuff (failing~ :D D: ), and I had gotten grounded yesterday morning. I THOUGHT he knew, but it turns out he clearly doesn't, so I'm going to be a jerk and take advantage of that. I'm not too worried about getting in trouble for saying that, since my parents don't have time to read my stories (thank whatever's-up-there).**

**So, I've gotten pretty far ahead for this story, so the chapters will be flowing smoothly until I hit another roadblock and have to save a chapter or two for when I get there.**

**I like being called Bio, I don't know why, I guess it's because my POW friends call me that. To them in case they're wondering if I'm dead because I haven't played that game in months; I'm so sorry, this laptop doesn't have the capability to download the game. I hope you guys aren't too sad that I left with little warning and that you are leveling up successfully.**

**The other day my friend Tori told me that she went to ValleyScare and she was having a Ninjas vs Pirates debates with some of the workers dressed up as Pirates. She's a ninja fan, or else they wouldn't be having the debate and having the worker say "Yay Pirates- boo ya scurvy dog!" No, then the Pirate person went and told their coworkers that she was a ninja fan and they came out of the haunted house and started singing Pirates Of The Caribbean songs. I'd love to have been there. And now I'm planning on going to ValleyScare dressed as a ninja and going to where the Pirates work. That'd be epic.**

**Okay, enough of my rambling. Off you go**

**-Bio**

**Enjoy!**

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

"What do you guys mean you aren't on the mission?" I stared at them, jaw slack.

"We have to go back to our ship, regroup with Adriana." Jai said, putting his armor on.

_The time has come._

"Sorry Jessie, we'll visit again, and bring her along." Mike tried to cheer me up. Not working.

_The week of refreshing my skills has been completed, but as much as I hate training, it went all too fast._

"But when is that? What if I don't see you guys again for another twelve years?" I slumped in my stance, depressed.

"Then we'll get to sit back in rocking chairs and joke around like a couple of old farts." Mike grinned. Ah, that's right, the rest of them are at least ten years older than me. They don't look like it though…

_My mission is in one hour._

"But I don't wanna be old!" I groaned, not liking the fact that I am even _more_ of the baby of the family.

_And worst of all._

"Aw, come on. The mission will be over in a jiffy, and the Halo ring will be destroyed in no time at all." Jai reassured.

_I'm going down with marines and ODSTs, including my three marine friends, who don't know I'm actually a Spartan; some elites are also joining us… and let's not forget-_

The door slid open, making heads turn. Two of them nodded in greeting, the other's face turned into a scowl.

_**Him.**_

John nodded to our brothers, before turning his helmet to me.

"Prepared yet?" Emotionless as ever.

Damn I forgot why I hardly ever talked to him before. Now I remember.

"Yes, _mom._" I turned back to my weapons, two beside me on the bench, one being cleaned in my lap. Two SMGs and a shotgun waiting to be loaded. I finished cleaning the last SMG before setting it down and retrieving the shotgun. I hadn't put my armor on yet, but they said it'd be ready within the next ten minutes. I loaded the shotgun, frowning at how little it holds now compared to the ones back on Reach, before grabbing a small hip pouch and filling it with its bullets. Close combat specialist; ya need to have your ammo handy. I set it aside and shoved magazines into the submachine guns as I listened to the three older Spartans converse with half an ear.

I set them down and looked around, eyeing the rocket launcher on its shelf but deciding to not take it. I don't know what'll be down there, so I can't lug around stuff I most likely won't need. My eyes wandered a bit more before stopping at the familiar stick-looking weapon. I smiled and got up, beginning to walk over to the small box full of them when _he_ stopped me.

"You're already exceeding the weapon limit. No more." I glared back at him, unable to see but somehow just _know_ that he's staring back. After a few more moments, he turned back to the two other Spartans. I eyed the crate before glancing back; ending up sighing and walking passed it.

Damn I hate his rank. I hate him.

I was almost to the grenades when a techie entered the room, nodding to the three armored Spartans before turning his eyes to me. I stopped him before he could utter a word.

"Finally! What the hell takes you techies so long? It's _just_ a set of armor!" I brushed past him, glaring at the ceiling. A pang of guilt from directing my anger at the messenger, but I quickly brushed it off. The sooner I get this damned mission done the better.

And the sooner I get away from him.

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

You're probably wondering why I dislike John-117 so much, right? Well, it goes way back when… Ok, really it just goes back a few years before I got turned into a metal popsicle.

It was a year before argumentation when I started disliking him. Surprisingly, I wasn't the most talkative of the bunch… yet.

My team, consisting of Mannie, a guy named Pedro, and I, was teamed up with John's team. Our mission was simple; locate the other teams' base, infiltrate it, and bring the objective back to our rendezvous point. We got to the place, and John just started telling us 'the plan'. Well, I didn't like him thinking he could just call the shots of being team leader, so I disagreed and we got into an argument. Our position just _happened_ to be near the enemy's base. And they just _happened _to pin point our location.

Get the picture?

Right in the heat of the discussion, we were ambushed. We managed to fight them off, but at a price. Pedro got beaten to a pulp, being the weakest of the group. A few legs breakings, shoulder dislocating, hip cracking, ribs snapping, and a concussion later; we got the objective and got back to the rendezvous point, I being stuck carrying the injured comrade. That was also the start of Kelly's and mine friendship. She had helped me when I got knocked to the ground, and I covered her back, and we just kept in touch since then. Sam and I weren't technically friends, but we tolerated each other and got along pretty well.

Anyways, mission accomplished, but we were down a team member for a few weeks. Why it was such a big deal? There was a competition of capture the flag that I was looking forward to all month. Stupid reason, I know, but hey, I didn't get to participate in the past games.

Anyways, that was the start of my dislike for John. It only grew when our teams were forced to work with each other. It didn't help that Mannie and John were friends either; I just didn't see how he could be liked.

Kelly and Sam tried to tell me numerous of times of how John is such a great friend, but I only saw the bad parts of him. I saw him as cold, emotionless, and as stubborn as I am. Yeah he was an _okay_ leader; whoop-dee-fucking-doo. Didn't really matter to me back then and it has only changed slightly in the time that has passed. Every mission I was on with him, he automatically took the role of team leader. I was satisfied when I annoyed the hell out of him; disrespecting him (to a point), being sarcastic, and just being the worst I could be with him. I did practically anything for the other siblings, but John was probably the only one I didn't want anything to do with. Which is why I got stuck on even more missions with him; Mendez seeing that we didn't like each other and all. "In order to be successful, you have to be a team. And that means putting aside your differences and working together." And blah blah blah.

Damn, things haven't really changed since I last saw him. Actually, I think he's got even _colder._

Is that even possible?

… … … … … … … … … … … … … …

The door slid open, but I didn't look up to know who it was. I was too giddy to care.

When two sets of feet came into view, that's when I looked up. I saw Johnson smirking behind his cigar, and John standing in full armor next to him. I only acknowledged the Major, ignoring John like I always did before missions.

"Like the suit?" Johnson walked further into the room, watching as the techies attached armor plates to my limbs. It was heavy, let me tell you that. But having to lug around half functioning armor, I got used to it. But _man,_ this thing was even _heavier!_ I could barely move my toes!

"Heck yeah, nearly fainted when I saw it. This thing is fucking awesome!" I gave him a toothy grin, watching as the chest piece was sealed in place. I felt my balance tipping but gravity kept me from moving an inch. "But does it really have to be this heavy?"

"Hold on," one of the techies muttered, pressing the back of the chest plate onto my back, the seals hissing and suddenly the suit got lighter. A _lot_ lighter!

"Holy shit-" I wobbled back, moving my arms and legs as I looked over the new armor, the green metal glinting in the light. "This thing is awesome!"

"Next thing we need to do is test the targeting system." I took the offered helmet and looked at the shield. The HUD stared back at me before I turned it around and placed it on my head. My vision immediately was filled with data. I watched as millions of numbers scrambled up and down against the black screen before disappearing. Before I could blink, the screen booted up and I was able to see outside. I blinked and looked around.

"Look up here, miss." I looked at the guy, before noticing the red dot machine. I looked up. "And down here," I looked down. "Good. Now come over here, we have to charge your shields." I walked over to another station with yellow bars on either side of me. I pressed my gloved hand over the panel and the bars glowed as they started circling me. I took a step back and jumped when an alarm came from inside my helmet with a small shock coursing through my body. I watched the flashing red bar turn into a charging blue bar, before it stopped when it filled completely. The yellow bars around me slowed, and stopped before I walked out of the station.

"Shields online, now you just have to get used to the feel and you'll be set to go."

"Thanks," I nodded to the man and walked over to Johnson. "Hey, how much time?"

"Ten minutes." I ignored the Spartan but rolled my eyes when Johnson agreed.

"Where's Jai and Mike?" I fully turned my helmet to Johnson, pointing the question solely to him.

"Hanger, waiting for you before they gotta leave." I sighed and walked passed them before I jogged to the room. Yeah, I shouldn't be doing this so quick, but I don't pay attention to those kind of things.

I of course stumbled half the way there when my hamstrings stiffened up. I hopped on one foot, hand rubbing at my covered thigh fruitlessly as I muttered "ow" over and over under my breath. Soon I was back to racing down the hall, even faster to make up for time.

I skidded to a halt and walked back to the doorway, instantly spotting my comrades. I walked over to them, noticing my marine friends hanging out near some crates a few yards away with a few other marines scattered around the large room. They were watching us, mostly in awe, but one glared hatefully at us. I switched on the radio to my brothers' frequencies.

"Hey guys… do you _really_ have to go?"

"Sorry Jess, but we have ta. Not everyone gets to go to Halo and destroy them. Some brutes were sighted near a human populated galaxy; we have to be there just in case they decide to attack." Jai said. I sighed but nodded.

"Hey, Jessie," I looked to Mike.

"Why are you whispering? It's not like anyone but us can hear each other." Jai said. Mike shrugged, grin in his voice.

"It adds to the effect. Anyways," He grabbed my hand and I felt something sliding into it. "Saw you eyeing these, so I swiped one for ya." I grinned, feeling the object properly.

"Thanks man."

I looked around, actually seeing more than three marines staring.

"Uhh…"

"It's unusual for more than one Spartan to be on board a ship at a time." Jai stated, I ah…'ed.

"Well, except our's."

"Yes, Mike. Except our's." Ha, Mike's getting Jai irritated. This never gets old…

"Spartans, time to leave." We turn to the pilot and they nodded before turning back to me.

"Well Jess, it's time for us to go."

"Aw man-"

"Jessica." I clenched my jaw, turning around with a glare. Even though he can't see it, I'm sure he knows. "Time to go." I stormed passed him, not caring if other people could hear me; which they could.

"God _DAMN _it! You _always_ have to interrupt shit, don't you? Can't leave me alone for _one_ minute! I fucking-" The door slid closed behind me, blocking the rest of my rant.

John felt an arm sling over his shoulders and didn't turn to look at Mike as he laughed.

"Good luck, buddy. You'll need it."

… … … … … … … … … … … …

I locked my weapon to the wall on the side of the seat. I hooked my bag of ammo to my hip, the handle clipped beside it. Grenades of two kinds lined my other side, a side arm strapped to each thigh, their mags strapped just above the bag on my hip.

"So, what can we expect?"

"Brutes, grunts, jackals… possibly the Flood." An ODST said, preparing his drop pod next to mine.

"Flood?" I looked up.

"You mean you've never heard of-" An alarm started going off, causing me to jump. What's with me and jumping lately? "Never mind, you'll learn soon enough." He chuckled, walking over to a place where he could see each and every one of our team consisting of five ODSTs, ten marines, and two Spartans. Not bad.

"Alright soldiers; drop time 30 seconds." I heard people scrambling while I made sure I had everything before strapping myself in.

I looked down at my hands in my lap. I was so nervous they were shaking, heck, my whole _body_ was shaking! Suddenly, the door above started to close. I grabbed the handle bars and griped them tight, knuckles paling. I clenched my eyes closed as it sealed shut and moved. When the pod stopped moving is when I opened my eyes, my stomach launched up into my throat.

The pod dropped, and I screamed.

A chuckle came from the speakers, coming from the ODST I talked to beforehand. His red striped ODST helmet moved as his screen showed a smirk before his screen became dark.

"Rookies."

I stopped screaming long enough to properly look around. The dark sky full of stars slowly turned blue. I looked down to see other drop pods, and a _huge_ ring.

"What… is that?" Still shaking inside my armor.

"That, sweetheart, is Halo." The general said, also gazing at the world like everyone else on this mission is. Our vision was obscured by a… purple ship?

"Oh shit, Covenant!" Someone said, I gazed over at the ship, then noticed smaller ones around it, along with a few... crap those are big...

"Crap that's a lot of ships." "A whole fleet!" "Eh, it's not that big." "Do _you_ want to see them up close?"

"Cut the chatter, we're about to hit atmosphere." No sooner than the officer said it, our pods shook. I put my hands to the walls around me, trying to stay in my seat despite the over-the-head seat belt. The ring, Halo, started to become bigger, land and water distinguished, and the former started to come alarmingly closer. A panel popped out the top of the pod, slowing us down a bit before disconnecting.

"Watch it- Banshees!" I watched as a purple object passed below my pod. My transporter shook as I neared the ground. Seconds before impact, my pod lurched to the side as a green ball struck the side of my pod. I screamed as it spun in the air, my head was knocked to the side as metal and dirt met. My world went black.

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

The door flew off; a green giant hopped out of the pod and swung a gun around, surveying the area. They strapped the gun on their back and turned back to the pod, picking up their dropped sidearm. Walking away from the crash site, they looked at the similar pods around, some disoriented soldiers stumbling out of them. I turned to the ODST general.

"Status report."

"Two casualties, and four pods landed out of the LZ, sir. The rest of the marines and ODSTs are accounted for."

"Acknowledged." I looked around, a magnum in hand as I turned the radio on. "113, status report."

…

Thinking she was ignoring my orders, again, I hid the irritation in my voice. "Spartan, I order you to respond."

No answer.

"Maybe she's out of area?" Cortana tried, before speaking through the speakers. "General, you said four pods landed outside the LZ, do you know who's?"

"No ma'am, didn't get a good look at them."

"Well this isn't good. Who were the casualties?"

"Both marines ma'am." Cortana spoke to me.

"That's good news, right Chief?" I didn't answer. Instead, I looked above the trees, to the hauntingly familiar ships gathering in the sky.

"Let's regroup."

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

"You aren't thinking of leaving her, are you?" I didn't answer. Instead I shoved a clip into my assault rifle. "Chief, answer me!"

"Why?" I grabbed the gun with both hands, my side arm in its holster on my hip.

"Why? Chief, we just found her, and you already want to get rid of her?" Cortana yelled, not believing this.

"She's useless." I grabbed two plasma grenades off the ground, wiping the grunt blood off. Not even five minutes on the ground and a Covenant patrol had found us. We needed to move, before more comes. "She's short tempered, stubborn, and disrespectful."

"Disrespectful to _you_. And she's also a specialist at close combat, agile, and she's a Spartan for pete's sake!"

"She never completed training."

"_What?"_ I started to move on, the rest of the soldiers following and keeping to the shadows as I walked right on the natural path, they having no idea of the conversation Cortana and I were having in my helmet. "Chief, _explain._" I sighed, but complied. Cortana just might be one of the only people I let order me around. Sometimes.

"The argumentation, she passed… and failed." The silence told me she was waiting for me to continue. "It left her with a few… disabilities. It's hard to explain." I ducked under the trees when I heard the familiar droning noise of a phantom, only to see it pass above. It was quiet for a few moments, before we continued on. "She feels more than what a normal Spartan should, and cannot hide those feelings completely." And she, along with the rest of us, was scarred from that night. "She also received a few… problems after surgery."

"Like?"

"I'm not too sure. As you can tell, we aren't exactly friends." I muttered, checking the radar frequently. Our conversation was put to a stop when an ODST suddenly spoke.

"Sir, the missing pods are located. Do we go and get them?" I considered this for a moment, then replied.


	10. Crashlanding

**A/N: YOOOOOoooooo… I don't know. Just wanted to start out differently. Anyways, sup people of the world? Haha. I've been in a really good mood on and off lately. The only off part was that I had **_**four hours of fucking homework on Monday (Oct. 25)**_** and one of those hours was wasted on a late project that I couldn't even hand in late (and school pretty much). I don't blame my teacher, of course not, he's an awesome teacher. No, I blame myself for forgetting to do that Health paper over the long weekend. Anyways, I got a new videogame on Saturday and played it for the rest of the weekend, didn't get time to really play it Monday, and finished it yesterday (Oct. 26). Bio, it really took you four days to beat TimeShift? Yes, yes it did. And I enjoyed every moment of it. No, it normally only takes me about two days, three tops, to finish any kind of game. Except Harvest Moon games. They are boring as hell after the first few days but they're so addicting. I still have no idea why I used to play them (still do on a rare occasion); I just do for some reason. Anyone who likes first person shooter games, or any video games at all- GET TIMESHIFT. It's awesome.**

**I meant to post this yesterday, but dad wanted me to watch TV in his office with him. Bah I feel bad for not updating in 21 days. Oh well, better than last time.**

**On a more important note-**

**I got a beta! :D Credete is his name and he's an awesome editor. He corrected any mistakes I missed (I reread this chapter twice already before this happened), and gave me a really great idea. Tensions will start to run high as this story goes on. Giant thanks to him!**

**(Wind rages outside) Yikes this weather is making me edgy. Even the weatherman didn't predict this storm. Anybody else being affected?**

**My dad got surgery exactly a week ago. Nothing too serious, the docs' just cut off his uvula and some glands so he'd be able to sleep better without waking up gasping (throat used to close up I guess). No luck yet, but that's either because of the medication or the fact that he's still in a lot of pain. The pain actually got WORSE yesterday to a point where he couldn't even eat mashed potatoes and gravy. Of course, he hadn't stuck to his diet and ate solid foods only a day after the surgery, then on Friday he did something stupid and had chips. Worst. Idea. Ever. (sigh) Hopefully he gets better and gets some sleep- he's only running on a maximum of two hours of sleep a night.**

**Replies in case I hadn't replied to you or you reviewed without an account:**

**Mysterious Angel-05: Thank you! Haha, more thoughts like those on the way. Thanks for reviewing and loving it!**

**: Nice name. Thank you very much for the review and compliments!**

**The Lonespartan: Thanks for the cookie and thanks for reviewing and complimenting xD**

**Kris: Thank you, and let's just say that lots is laid on the road ahead. Thanks for reviewing and complimenting!**

**sky: Thank you for reviewing and loving it! Here's an update**

**Thanks for everyone who has reviewed, alerted, and favorite this story so far! Greatly appreciated and I plan on running this story for a very long time!**

Three pods found; all dead. Two landed on their side, one on its back. It wasn't looking good. Though Spartans can take more damage than the average soldier, they are just as fragile when it comes to crashing landing in an enclosed space.

We traveled through the forest, getting closer to the unresponsive pod. Still no answer from Jessica, and Cortana would have paced in anxiety if she was able to.

"_Ugh… what happened last night?"_ The radio crackled.

"Jessie?" I could practically _feel_ Cortana jump. "Can you hear me? We're closing in on your position." Relief was heard in her voice.

"_Cortana…?"_ She seemed disoriented, like she just had woken up. It wouldn't be a surprise though; she has dozed off a couple of times in training missions. _"I-"_ Twigs were heard snapping and being moved away before the radio on her end clicked off.

"Jessie...? Chief, hostiles ahead." I readied my gun and moved faster, bursting out into a clearing, my finger held down the trigger. Bullets hit their marks, and in seconds it was over before they could so much as lift their guns; several grunts and one brute minor. The marines and ODSTs behind me caught up and surveyed the small battle scene before taking point. I walked over, stepping into the still-warm trail of the crashed pod. Moving a few branches and stepping over a fallen tree trunk, I spotted it a good three yards away. Dents and scorch marks littered the metal, but that's not what caused the momentary thought of worry. The pod was upside down, set up against a broken tree trunk while the top was dug into the ground. A spider web design made up the glass on the door, not allowing a soul to see through it.

"Oh no…" I walked over to the pod, and crouched. "Jessie, are you still with us?" Cortana tried, but the radio on her end was still off, and no doubt she couldn't hear her through the speakers. "Chief, get that door open." My hands gripped on either side of the door as I dug my boots into the ground. My fingers dug into the metal and I moved one hand towards the top of the door where a hinge was. I dug my fingers into it and starting to move the door towards myself.

"Stand clear." Cortana said just before I ripped the door off, hurling it away into the trees.

I stepped back, in time to avoid an armored body tumbling out, landing spread eagle out in the dirt.

"Ow." She said nonchalantly, getting up, and rolling her shoulders. She then retrieved her weapons, in time for some marines and ODSTs to come to the small crash site. "Took you long enough."

"Are you okay?" Cortana asked, relieved that she was still alive.

"I'll live. But just a word of advice, don't land upside down. It gives you a killer headache." She chuckled, turning to me. "What was that anyway? That big green… blob of goo."

"Plasma cannon, Banshees are equipped with them, like how Hornets have the tracking missiles."

"Ah… okay."

"You have no idea what a Hornet is, do you?"

"Not a clue."

Some marines were pacing, impatient to get on with the mission. The ODSTs were more professional and hung back, waiting for us to give the order and continue the mission. Jessica leaned to the side, looking around me and stilled. I nonchalantly raised an eyebrow, before glancing over my shoulder. A man, about 5'6" with brown hair, hazel eyes, was standing towards the back, glaring hatefully at us. I turned back around; I was used to seeing those kinds of people. I looked at Jessica, waiting for an explanation. She spoke on my line, only I and Cortana could hear, but that didn't stop her from speaking in a hush tone.

"Don't say my name around them."

"Why not?" Cortana asked.

"Just... don't, alright? Those three, the two with the glaring asshole, those are the marines I befriended. They think 'Jessie' is a marine recovered from Reach."

"And you didn't mention the tiny fact that you're a Spartan?"

"Tyler, the guy who's glaring, hates Spartans. If he knew who I am, right now, he would turn the other two, and possibly any future comrades, against me." That's another thing with her; when she isn't in one of her "moods", she's self-conscious.

"And you want to make friends, by keeping the real you a secret?"

"…...Maybe." She looked away and Cortana sighed.

"Hey, Spartans!" We turned to see the man named Tyler, and an ODST glaring at him for yelling so casually to two higher ups. "Are you done flirting with each other, or can we get on with the mission?"

"Quiet Private." The ODST glared.

"Oh shut up you asshole." The marine directed the glare to the ODST now.

I looked back to Jessica when she forgot to disconnect the line, muttering. "Oh shit, he's here too?"

Cortana didn't ask. When my helmet was still turned towards Jessica, she realized her mistake.

"Oh shit, is this still on? Oh well, better have fun with this…" Click. Jessica strolled past me and proceeded to tower over the private, the two beside him backing away slowly.

"Excuse me _Private,_ I couldn't hear you properly, would you like to repeat that?_"_ The shorter man glared up at her after a moment of shock (perhaps because he didn't expect a female Spartan?), unable to see her face, but stayed silent. She straightened up. "Yeah, didn't think so." She walked passed him, towards the clearing where the rest of the team was. I walked after her, ignoring the soldiers that watched us leave before following as well. The brown head ground his teeth together before shoving his helmet on and stomping after his comrades.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

It's already been a half hour of traveling. Currently we're hiking up a mountain, and I still wasn't sick of this place. All the nature here... it's just wonderful. Yeah, it would dull over time, but I'm thinking of spending my retirement here. Pfft, yeah right, I don't think Spartans _get_ retirement. Either die or go AWOL probably. Yup, the future is looking bright.

I winced when I arched my spine back to stretch, the lower disks burning along with the muscles near my shoulder blades. A headache wasn't the only thing I got out of that crash. Headache, bruises on arms and legs, and back pain? I feel old...

I breathed in the air that came through the vents, unable to smell it from the ventilation, but just for effect… "Ahhh… Smell that fresh air."

"You're not a normal Spartan, are you?" An ODST chuckled, pausing in his steps beside me. The path was not narrow, only three people width, but we still had to be careful about someone falling. It was a good 200 foot drop off the steep cliff. Even a Spartan couldn't survive that without problems.

"Nope!" I chirped, walking beside him, letting a sarcastic comment out. "Thanks for noticing, it's not _too_ obvious, is it?"

He laughed.

"What's your name, I don't want to keep calling you 'Spartan' the whole time we're on this mission."

"Call me Jess, or 113. You?" There's many 'Jess's in the UNSC, it could stand for Jessie, Jasmine... okay that's all I can come up with. Oh well, I think my nickname is safe enough.

"Oh that's right, you have numbers. Nice." His screen wasn't dark, letting me see the smile. So he wasn't being sarcastic when he said it… "My name's Derik. And this here is Cassy." He nudged the gal that was passing him. She turned and glared at him, a smile on her face. Their faces looked identical, related perhaps?

"What about me?"

"Just introducing ya to Jess, Cass." She looked up to me and smiled.

"Nice to meet ya Jess, my lil' bro ain't troubling you or nothing, right?" I smiled, letting a chuckle out before answering. Siblings, perhaps twins by the look of it. Both looked 26, give or take a few years, and had the same features with a few differences.

"Not at all."

"Well okay, but if he does, tell me and I won't hesitate to throw him off the cliff, alright?" She laughed while Derik walked closer to me, eyeing his sister wearily. I smiled; these guys are alright.

I glanced behind me. Tyler was watching our every movement, John and me, a scowl etched on his face. I frowned. What made him hate Spartans so much? Doesn't he know Spartans have died for this war too?

I shook my head, turning forward again. I don't think anything could help me understand that kid. Why Pedro and Dillon hang around him, I'll probably never know.

... ... ... ... ... ... …

We made camp in a place where a cliff overhangs and shelters the space, circling around on two sides while on the other two was the dense forest. Marines and ODSTs made the camp while John and I patrolled the area separately. It's been only twenty minutes and the one question I have had stuck in my mind all day just had to be asked out loud.

"Hey John?" A sigh was heard on the other end.

"_Yes?"_

"How come we landed so far from the objective?"

"_If we landed beside the objective, brutes would have been over us before the door could open."_

"Oh… okay." I looked up after a moment. "I can see the other side of the Ring. Is that normal?" Another aggravated sigh. Well he hasn't changed a bit.

"_**Yes."**_I took the hint and stayed quiet, surveying my surroundings, walking as quietly as I could.

Soon, we spotted each other and made our way back to the camp. I nodded to the General in greeting, before making my way to a more secluded place (or in this case; the place farthest away from Tyler and the gang) and grabbed a blanket, laying it down in the spot. I sat beside it, not wanting to get it dirty. I surveyed the camp; people laughing and eating, some turning in early, others playing poker and telling stories. I listened with half a mind, spacing out with the other, sitting Indian style next to my blanket, after a while I started to notice more and more marines going into their tents for bed. I looked around, all that were left were some ODSTs and John further away, on guard duty. I shifted, my body ached from sitting in the armor for too long.

Ah, crap my ass fell asleep…

I glanced around before I started taking the armor off, the seals hissing quietly as I watched the ODSTs, making sure none of them were looking at me. They had already stripped themselves of their armor, even before they ate, and got comfortable. I looked at John and wondered if he was having the same problem I was.

Wait.

Why do I care? It'd be great for him to have the same problem, and then he'd be even more of an ass.

I scoffed and proceeded to take off my armor. Soon, it was all piled next to the blanket, and all that was left was my helmet. I hesitated before taking it off and set it beside me. I stretched, my joints popping. Ah that felt good…

I looked around, some ODSTs were still around the bonfire, sharing stories and talking in the calm air. I got up, but was noticed instantly.

"Hey Spartan, come on over." A woman with blonde hair and brown eyes waved me over, patting the seat next to her. Others turned to watch as I wearily walked over, taking the seat. They turned back to their conversations and the blonde turned to me.

"So, what do they call you?"

"Jessie." I took a quick look around. _Thank god, James turned in early too._

"Cool, my name's Jen." She nodded to me, and I returned the gesture. Derik and Casey weren't here, must have already gone off to bed. I listened to the stories the ODSTs shared with each other, feeling oddly alone even when I was surrounded. A thought came to mind and the corners of my mouth fell ever so slightly.

It's been twelve years. Many things have changed; so many things. Everything is different… it's almost scary. It's like being reborn into a world, silent and dead, then being rescued and thrown into a loud and living life. It's… unnerving. I thought the cafeteria was bad, being surrounded by marines that thought I was one of them. But this isn't much better; being around people that… included me without hesitation. Too accepting I guess… I'm still getting used to even seeing one living being around, nonetheless more…

"So, Jessie was it?" I looked up, seeing a black haired man with a goatee and brown eyes. I nodded. "What's the first thing you're going to do when the war's over?" I blinked in surprise and looked back down at the fire, a confused expression on my face. After a moment, I answered; unsure and off guard.

"I'm… not sure. Never really thought about it…"

"Well I know what I'm going to do!" Jen grinned.

"Yeah, hit the clubs." She frowned and hit the man next to her upside the head.

"Ah, shut up." They laughed. I smiled, before looking back down to the source of warmth.

"Yeah, next time I get on leave, I'm visiting my wife and kid. It's been a while since I've been able to see them."

"My wife's pregnant!"

"Really? Congrats!" "Great!" "Boy or girl?"

"We don't know yet, she just found out a month ago." A pang of jealousy burned in my gut from hearing everyone's side, making me wince.

What _am_ I going to do after the war? Spartans were trained since childhood about war. All we've lived for is to fight. Thinking about it now, it doesn't seem fair. Forcing little kids into a program and taking their childhood away. But there was also logic in it. If they hadn't done what they did, humanity could have been extinct by now.

What is there after a war?

I remember some things that people said, what civilians do. I then tried to imagine myself in the civilian world. A woman in the kitchen, cooking and waiting for the man she loves, to come home and spend time with. I went to shake my head, when an even crazier thought came to mind.

What about kids?

I shook my head even harder, shaking the thought from my head. Yeah, like I even _want_ kids. Hell, I can't even imagine _being_ with someone, not to mention having their offspring.

"Jess, you okay?" I looked up to find Jen staring, worried, at me. I smiled.

"Yeah, just a little spacey." She giggled.

"I didn't even know that Spartans could be spacey." I smiled, though inside I had frowned.

"_Why do you have to be this way? What's wrong? I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong." The figure seemed to loom over the shorter one, and though their thoughts were helpful, the air was tense from the kneeling form. The shorter one gripped their head, pulling at their hair as frustrated tears leaked from closed eyes._

"_I don't know!"_

I blinked, the image vanishing. "Yeah… I'm just different." I looked behind me, seeing John's silhouette fifteen feet away. "I'm going to go on watch, okay?" She nodded and I left, walking over to John.

Why am I doing this?

I sat down next to him, looking up at the stars as his helmet faced straight. Minutes passed and I wondered if he even knew I was there. I could have hit myself. This is John we're talking about; he thinks he knows everything. I blinked, eyes at him, before blinking again, returning to the stars.

"What do you want?" The voice startled me, not expecting him to speak first. I regained my posture and closed an eye, looking at him through the other.

"What makes you think I want anything?"

"You don't talk to me unless you want something. Spit it out." I frowned as he spoke and sighed.

"What's after a war?" His helmet shifted towards me, still unable to see his face.

"What?" He wasn't expecting that, which made my mood lighten; even just a little.

"What's after a war? What happens when this war ends?" He turned back to the woods.

"Humanity will celebrate their victory and continue on living."

"No… I mean… what's after the war… for us? Spartans I mean." His helmet turned fully to me. I hesitated before slowly wording out my thoughts. "I mean… all that I know… that any Spartan knows… is how to fight… there's not many places in civilian life where Spartans could belong…" He turned forward again.

"There is no place for us in that life." I opened my mouth, wanting to protest, but shut it and looked towards the ground.

… … … … … … … … … … … …

I glanced at her, and then back at the camp. Everyone was either asleep or preparing for it. I watched as an ODST looked around, spotting us and nodding, before dousing the fire and going into his tent. I turned forward again, looking to the forest before looking higher. I glanced at her again, the silence bringing curiosity to my mind.

_Is she honestly thinking about that?_

Is it possible for a Spartan to live in the civilian world? Is there a life for a Spartan that doesn't involve war? Great, now she's got me thinking. Logic overtook my mind. No, it's impossible for a Spartan to live as a civilian.

_What about Marie?_

_That's different, she had no choice when she got injured._

_She could have joined the ONI, like the others. But she didn't._

I contemplated this for a moment, before another thought came to mind.

W_hy did she even ask?_

"Why?" Her head jerked up, looking at me.

"Huh? Oh! Uh… No reason… The ODSTs were talking about what they were going to do when the war was over… and it just got me thinking…" I felt my throat vibrate as I hummed, eyes watching the area. I shifted, my armor clinking softly together.

"Don't you want to take your armor off?" I glanced at her, before looking back to the forest.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because the Covenant could be watching, waiting for their chance to attack; you should know that." She huffed in annoyance.

"Fine, stay in your armor all night; just don't complain in the morning about your aching ass." She crossed her arms, looking away as she shifted in her spot. I glanced at her again and breathed out through my nose.

"What happened to your under armor?" I referred to the black shorts and tank top.

… … … **... ... ... ... ... ... ...**

I shifted, not looking at him. Fuck, even moving hurt. "Jessica." _**What**__ did he call me?_

"I told you not to call me that." I glared up at him.

"I asked what happened to your under armor."

"It's not my name."

"It's my responsibility for your well being."

"I don't even like that name!"

"I don't care."

"You're such a jerk."

"Why are you acting like this?"

"Because you're a cold-hearted jerk!" Wow I need a different reason. All the time in the past, whenever our teams had to go on missions together, somewhere on the way he and I always had to have at least one little heated discussion. Well, I picked him, and somehow agitated him enough to pull him in. A decade later and my comebacks somehow managed to have gotten worse. Gotta work on that.

Ouch, I can actually _feel_ his scowl.

… … … **... ... ... ... ... **...

I shook my head, before glancing back towards the camp. Nothing stirred, which surprised me since she was close to yelling.

"Look, its 50 degrees."

"It's a good temperature…" She added, shifting again. I ignored it.

"You're dressed in a tank top and shorts; you're going to get sick if you keep wearing that out here. Where is your under armor?"

"…" She shifted, quickly looking up at me before staring at the ground in defeat. "By my armor… I don't see why I have to though, it's not like we're gonna just get attacked right now." She huffed and I turned back to the forest. Not a moment later I swung my head back to her as a muffled scream came from her.

My shoulders relaxed and I held out a hand, letting the tarantula crawl onto my armored hand before throwing it far off into the trees. I turned my head back to the red faced Spartan.

"Shut up." She grumbled, not facing me; she couldn't. I felt the corner of my mouth tug.

We sat in silence for who knows how long, but then I noticed it; Halo's two moons were already three quarters across the sky. I turned to Jessie, about to say something, when I closed my mouth at the sight of her. Her head was bowed, chin tucked, arms slack on her knees. Crouched over as she kept the crossed leg pose; her breathing deep and even. I sighed and stood, stretching. My spine realigned itself with a few pops and cracks, my arms trembled before I let them fall. I sat back down, rolling my shoulders. I rested my wrists on my knees, thumb and finger touching each other. I closed my eyes, back straight as I attempted to clear my mind in an attempt for time to go faster. A few minutes later I cracked open an eye.

My elbow jabbed into her arm. Her head shot up and her body fell backwards, legs still folded.

"Eep!" She looked around, eyes wide as she tried to find hidden enemies. "What's going on, who's attacking?" She attempted to jump to her feet, forgetting her legs were still tangled. She squeaked, falling forward onto her face. I sighed and grabbed the back of her shirt, pulling her back up as she squeaked again.

"At ease." She looked up at me, narrowing her eyes.

"Then why'd you wake me up?"

"I didn't want to hear you complain." I turned forward again, but was still able to see her surprised face, before she looked away, grunting. I looked back to the woods, but that didn't stop me from seeing her wince.

"Go back to sleep." She scoffed and stood up.

"Yeah yeah, don't tell me what to do…" She got up and walked away towards her spot, laying down, facing towards the stone wall.

…

When all was quiet and deep in slumber, I let my mind wander as my eyes searched the darkness for hostiles, even though Cortana would alert me of any if I started to slip off too deeply. My mind started to wander to today's earlier events.

"_Good luck, buddy. You'll need it."_

What did he mean by that? He couldn't have meant that he knew I would have complications going on a mission with 113.

"_Come on Mike, lay off." _His eyes told nothing, but his voice hinted a knowing thought. Something they didn't want me to know.

I'll let it slide- for now.


	11. Feeling A Death Wish Coming On

**A/N: Hey! It's been a month already? Jeez time flies. No seriously, I only knew that since I just checked when I last updated. WHOOPSIE.**

**Wow, 8 reviews. Awesome. Thanks you guys!**

**Whoo, long chapter**

**So far the Traffic is almost 5,000 so a thank you goes out to everyone who has read this story this far. It's been fun. Oh no, don't worry, it's not even half over yet haha.**

**Katie, you wanted me to update before Thanksgiving. I did as you asked. Kinda. Maybe. No? Eh close enough. Thanks for reviewing ;P**

**Firefreck, thanks for liking chapter 6 haha. Nice name by the way**

**Also, big thanks for Credete for being patient with me when I kept falling asleep while he was editing it xD;; I feel bad, since I just suddenly konk out without warning and he's left there like "hello...?" So, yeah, sorry Credete D: And thank you so much!**

**OK, so I'm stuck on a part in the next chapter and homework's hammering me down. Don't really do anything in school though... fuck I can't wait until next year, eh? I plan on taking an extra class to graduate early so I can enlist for winter boot camp for the Navy. *sigh* two more years. just two more... it seems so far away ;_;**

**Yay, so my month-long sickness is almost gone. That's good. Just coughing right now, although that has gotten worse I no longer have runny noses- yay. Blah. Yes, I've been sick for over a month. It sucks.**

**If you are still reading this, cookie for you. If you are still reading this and haven't figured out that I'm hyped up on Ginger Ale and pecan pie, give me back my cookie.**

**Hahaha, this story has twice as much of hits than My Life. I find that funny since My Life is my first story and I honestly have been trying to keep it my main goal. If you haven't noticed, this has switched to here and now I feel immense guilt for those who like My Life. Nuttex, I feel really bad since you've been waiting forever for me to update but do not worry, once I get passed one part it will be updated. This weekend in the MOST. Tomorrow in the LEAST.**

**My sister's birthday is tomorrow! :D She'll be an official adult. *sniffs* I'm so happy, now I can constantly annoy an adult. You have no idea what's in store for her saturday. Muahaha. Yes, I would find it bad if I started annoying her on her birthday. Odd for the youngest of two? Yes. Am I ashamed of it? Fuck yeah. Too polite for my own good. And here I am swearing to whoever is reading this (damn I would feel bad if I was the one tampering a little kid's mind with cuss words... although, I don't really like kids, so it balances out). Which isn't polite... OK I'm poilte to people that I k_now._ Happy? ;P**

**Haha, so this weird person randomly added me as a friend on Xbox Live the other night, and he starts asking my name and my age. So I tell him, and he's like "me too :D" so now I'm wondering if he's the kind of person that creeps on little girls and want to fuck with their minds or something. Meh, oh well. He told me to text him, and since I don't have a phone (and proud of it), he hasn't talked to me since. Yay :D**

**Ok, enough of my personal talkings. Have an awesome holiday weekend/week/Thanksgiving/November25 and enjoy!**

_The sun shown over Reach, spreading its warmth through the leaves and warming my face as the grass tickled my legs. My shoulders shifted against the tree trunk, folded hands resting on my belly. I stared up at the sky through the cracks and gaps in the leaves, enjoying the rare day-off. A particularly large shadow was next to me, the source of it up in the tree above. I peered up to my fourteen year old friend, smiling as I watched him with his hands behind his head, a leg dangling from his tree branch. The silence was broken, but the warm voice that rose from his chest kept its peace._

"_What do you think is outside?" I raised an eyebrow, confused but smiling nonetheless._

"_What do you mean? We're outside right now."_

"_No," he cracked open an eye, that all too familiar adventurous smile on his face. "I mean, what's outside _here?_ What would it be like being..."_

_Normal?_

_I shrugged, closing my eyes._

"_I don't know, why not ask Déjà the next time we have her?"_

"_She's an AI, she doesn't know what civilians do; only the facts and stories in the databases." He paused, thinking about it. "It must be boring, being a civilian I mean... where's the excitement? The action? The only thing I ca__n think of that a civilian would find exciting is a movie or a fire. I mean, moving pictures? A little flare? Whoop-de-doo. Here we have guns, we learn how to fight, to _live." _I squinted up at him, a small frown on my features._

"_Then why were you wondering about them, Mannie?" He didn't answer._

_I leaned back, closing my eyes again._

_He didn't have to._

I woke before dawn, the old memory still lingering in my mind.

That was one of the few days we got to ourselves, one of the few days we got to do whatever we wanted. Only bad thing was that we had to stay in the designated area, that includes the barracks, the mess hall, the courtyard near the school, the training grounds, and anywhere else Spartans-in-training are allowed to go.

I stood and saw that John still hadn't moved from his spot. I scoffed, rolling my eyes before stretching. I got my under-armor and MJOLNIR armor on, leaving the helmet off for now. I made my way to the fire pit, having packed everything up. I kneeled and grabbed a box of matches, striking one and lighting the half burned wood. I stocked it with more wood, before sighing and falling back on my butt. I hissed, my back still sore, but better than last night. Sure it didn't help sleeping on the ground, but it must have been better than sleeping in my armor all night. Taking out my small pack full of MREs and other necessities, I grabbed a package. Glancing at John again, I took another out.

What? It won't do _anyone_ good to have a half starved, cranky-assed leader.

A few minutes later, I was carrying the two ready MREs and my helmet over to John and plopped beside him. I dropped his food into his lap and placed my helmet to my side, preparing to dig right into mine. Putting the mash potatoes on one half of the bun, chicken and butter on the other, I squashed it together. Yup, even though I have time, I never get tired of the weird but good taste of MREs bring when you eat it like this. Half in my mouth, I cracked open an eye to see that he didn't even react. Huffing, I knocked on the side of his helmet.

"Yo, twinkletoes, it's time to eat." His helmet moved an inch in my direction, before moving back.

"Not hungry."

"Bullshit. Eat it before I make you." I watched out of the corner of my eye to see him pick up the MRE and put it to the side, and glared. "Well?"

"Already ate."

"Yeah, and I bet you got some sleep too. Did you really sit out here all night?" I took his silence as a 'yes'. I reached over and picked up the MRE and put it in front of his helmet. "Eat." He grunted and snatched the packet out of my hand, making me grin in triumph. The seals hissed, and he took off his helmet after a quick look around. I froze, wide eyed.

"What?" He turned his eyes to me and I snapped my eyes and mouth shut, shaking my head with a little too much force.

"Nothing!" I shoved my food in my mouth, keeping my eyes to the ground. He raised an eyebrow, but went back to his food and began eating. Mouth half full, I remembered something, making my half chewed food go down my throat and causing me to hammer on my chest to dislodge it. "Oh yeah! Didn't somebody say that some elites were going to be joining us?" I didn't look at him as I asked, just taking another smaller bite of my sandwich.

"Yes. We will be regrouping with them at noon. They'll be landing in a different LZ, so the group wouldn't be too big to get easily spotted." I nodded and we ate our meals in silence. I glanced at him when his seals hissed again, only to see his helmet on and him crumpling the wrappers up. I ate my last bite and did the same, tossing the garbage behind me, it landing in the fire as the rest of camp began to wake up. I shoved my helmet on and walked out of the campground, looking around. I turned back and watched the sunrise as the rest of the team got ready to head out.

… … … ... ... ... ... ...

It was an hour after dawn, and already we could see our objective. I stopped, gazing at it.

"Whoa…" Yeah, that is big.

"Split into two groups. Michael, you lead one while the Chief leads the other," _Pfft. Of course he gets to lead._ I thought grimly. "Take the four marines and two ODSTs; the rest of the ODSTs will come with us." Cortana spoke through John's helmet, with us standing for her; John and I. As we hit the trees, in one motion the large group split off.

"Michael, your team will take shore's side. We'll go head on through the entrance. Once we get through, have your team head for evac as the Chief and 113 go into the cartographer and retrieve the map. Keep a pelican waiting." They agreed and it was silent as the teams broke off, still enabling us to see each other through the trees.

About a half hour later, the objective got even bigger.

I stopped, gazing up at it.

"Holy shit... and we're suppose to find a map in _that?_" John paused, turning and pushing me forward to keep going.

"Yes, but we won't be able to with your mouth flapping." I wanted to shoot a glare at him, though thought differently and settled on glaring at his feet. Besides, he, nor anyone else for that matter, would be able see it anyways. I grumbled under my breath, hefting my shotgun and continued on, searching the trees for any sign of danger.

We reached the clearing with a straight shot to the entrance. John stopped before the tree line and signaled for us to take cover nearby. I put my back to a tree, glancing over my shoulder at the structure. Johnson said that the Covenant believed in something like a 'journey' and the 'four runners' or something. Gods I guess. They had built structures, like this, on the Halos and other worlds. Especially the Ark on Earth. Never been there, but I hear they're still recuperating.

I might not remember the names of the gods and the journey thing, but I do remember something. The Halos are a weapon, and we must not let the remainders of the Covenant to fire them.

"Jessica," I glared at the one who called me that in a hushed tone, before immediately looking away, gritting my teeth and clenching my eyes closed. "Go with Michael's team." He nodded to the other team leader. My eyes snapped open, wide, as my chest tightened. "Once I signal you, come to the entrance and we'll go in from there." I barely nodded and crept over to my new team leader, he and his squad only thirty feet away.

_Go with Michael's team? By myself? Wait, a minute, Jessie. You don't need to have him on your team. This is what you've been wanting ever since training with him started. So man up and listen because the squad leader's moving his helmet like he's talking... Oh._

"Alright, move out." John gave the signal and our team went right of the trees, traveling as quietly as we could as team John's team disappeared out of view. I moved over to a marine, cursing my luck. I'm on the same team as Lopez, Tyler, and Dillon. Thinking quickly, I made my way over to Dillon, recognizing his bright blonde hair bangs sticking out through the helmet.

"Private," I whispered. He looked over at me. "What'd the squad leader say?"

"Quiet." Lopez whispered back, nodding to the squad leader as he looked back at us. I nodded to them and made my way over to the tree line, still traveling with the group. Being a seven foot tall metal man, I had to keep my head lower than the others.

"Shit, brutes are already here." I heard someone say, and I looked to the structure, taking out my scope. On the ledges were jackals and grunts stationed around and a few brutes here and there. I put away my scope just in time to not run into a marine. He was about to glare but stopped when he saw me and turned forward with a pale face. Heh heh, being a Spartan has its perks. Everyone stopped and gathered around the squad leader, two soldiers keeping a look out.

"Okay, here's the plan. You three," He pointed at my friends, "Will go left while you three," He pointed to two ODSTs and a marine, "Go in from the middle. I'll cover the Spartan." Oh, why am I getting a bad feeling? "Spartan," He turned to me. "You head for the water, the trees should end just a little bit before the shoreline. You head underwater and start going towards the structure and hit them from the rear." Oh, that's why. "By the time you surprise them, they'll be out in the open and it'll be too late for them to retreat. Everyone understand?" Everyone but me nodded. "Good, let's fall out." We traveled a bit more before the leader did a hand signal and my friends fell behind. After 25 feet he did the same thing and the ODSTs and marine fell back, staying there. The rock in my stomach grew heavier when we stopped at the tree line, the waves crashing up on the shore.

Yeah, I like water and all, but I don't like being underneath it. Have I ever told you that?

Nope. And weighing a ton has nothing to do with it.

He gave the signal, picking a target and headshotting a jackal. All three patrols burst from the trees, guns blazing. The enemy was taken by surprise, but a moment later they retaliated and started firing back. The leader nodded, my signal, but I hesitated, staring at my watery enemy.

A cry made me look back to the battle, mind buzzing as I watched a marine go down. Water or disobey orders?

Oh fuck it.

I burst from the trees, running straight into battle, alarms in my head going wild as I went against instincts. I've been trained since I was a kid never to disobey orders, not unless if it meant losing the battle.

I slung my shotgun from over my shoulder and shot it forward before snapping it back, pumping it one handedly. I shot a grunt's head off, unstrapped a SMG from my thigh, bullets from the SMG digging into a brute's shield and body.

Click. Click.

The empty cartridge dropped and I slipped in a new one single-handedly. Yup, being a Spartan has its perks.

Almost immediately all gunfire was directed at me as I ran, jumped, and flipped over dead or dying Covenant bodies. I pumped the shotgun again and swung the handheld gun into a jackal's neck, a juicy crunch being my reward.

I searched and spotted my next target. I jumped and landed on the brute's chest, knocking it down flat on its back as it roared. I shoved the nozzle of my shotgun down its throat and pulled the trigger.

Brains splattered everywhere before I looked up. All enemies neutralized. I looked towards the trees to see two bodies being hovered over. I blinked as I looked down and removed my shotgun from the blood pile that used to be its head, a trail of brain matter and blood following it. I shook the grime off and made my way over. One marine dead, the other body had some spikes through his stomach and chest; it was the squad leader. Two marines hovered over his body, doing all they could to get the spikes out and save their leader. While I was observing, I didn't notice the marine until his face was shoved in mine.

"This is your fault Spartan! If you had followed orders then this wouldn't have happened!" He screamed in my face, immediately recognizing Tyler. My eyes narrowed behind my shield but guilt already weighed in my gut, making me feel a lot heavier all of a sudden. _If I did follow orders… would this all have been prevented?_ The thought bounced back and forth in my mind as the red-faced marine continued to scream at me. A click made me glance to the side before turning away from the pissed off marine.

"113!" A voice, hinted with annoyance, barked in my ear.

"What?" I had to resist the urge to rub my ear, since my helmet and all that.

"Don't you fucking _"what"_ me you fucktard!" Tyler shrieked, thinking I was talking to him. He must really like the word fuck, he's said it 23 times already. I waved him off, making him even more pissed.

"Come to my position." John's naturally grave voice sounded in my ear.

"Roger." I turned back to my still screaming friend.

"This is your fault! This is _your __**fault.**_ I knew we couldn't trust Spartans! I knew that you guys were bad luck! I knew- Hey, get back here!" I was already a good five feet away when he noticed, thanks to my longer strides, and he took three steps to try and catch up. "Don't you fucking walk away from me!"

"Spartan." Oh no, John's starting to get impatient. _Whatever_ shall I do? Maybe switch armor with him and have _him_ deal with this screaming two year-old! Oh wait, we have the same armor. But still.

"I'm coming, I'm coming…" I waved off Tyler and continued to walk around the large structure; Tyler still screaming insults after me. Within minutes I was walking up the ramp; I spotted John standing at the entrance with a couple ODSTs keeping an eye out, though Cortana would be able to warn them if there were any hostiles. I didn't look at John, only walking within five feet of him, helmet facing him but I myself was looking away. A feeling stirred in my gut and I suppressed a shutter.

"Any casualties?" I heard Cortana ask.

"One marine dead, the squad leader is receiving medical treatment." I grumbled, still sour over the battle results. I feel dirty. I looked down at my gloved hands and grimaced. Little bits of brain and blood were splattered on them, my arms chest splattered with blue and dark orange blood, along with my shoes. I rubbed my hands together but only succeeded in smearing it more, brain bits falling to the ground. "You?" Cortana spoke for John again.

"Two ODSTs. Ready to go?" I nodded and John led the way into the structure, the shock troopers following. John took the lead and I followed behind him, keeping my distance as the four ODSTs followed in between and behind us.

"There's a chance that they contacted the others, so be ready for anything." Cortana murmured. I looked around, part of me fascinated with the structural design of the place while another part of me was a little creeped out for some reason.

I shuddered at the wonder of why the ceilings were so high.

"This is odd…" I looked ahead.

"What is Cortana?" I even had to convince myself that I'm only looking at Cortana, not John.

"The structure, it's different from the last Halo ring."

"How so?" I looked around again, trying to find anything out of place. This place was bare, except for the designs, doorways, and the occasional hallway going off in a different direction.

"Well, for starters, the last cartographer was underground." Okay, that's a good answer.

"Maybe every Halo ring is differently designed, to throw off intruders?" An ODST suggested, speaking up.

"Possibly," Cortana considered this option. "But the question is if they knew something like this would happen. If they knew the rings would be uncovered, that they would be attempted to be used as weapons." Silence hung in the air after that, everyone thinking about what she said. Minutes later, a different ODST broke the silence.

"Hey, does anyone else have the feeling that we're underground?" The group stopped, but John kept walking and we soon followed. I hesitated as the distance slowly increased between me and the group. A thought flashed through my mind, making me gulp and run to catch up with my comrades, keeping a weary eye on behind us.

I looked around, suddenly on high alert as my mind raced with unwanted thoughts. My head popped in the nearest door, the darkened room lit up with my flashlight. Clear. I repeated this action a few more times before John suddenly stopped and looked at me, the hair on my neck rising to tell me he was warning me. I turned off my flashlight, settling for my hand resting on my gun strapped to my hip, but my eyes still looked in each room and hall we passed.

What I'm experiencing is not paranoia.

Adrenaline raced through my veins, making me want to run and get the fuck out of here. My breathing quickened, my throat suddenly became dry.

No, this is another fear.

I've tried to keep them secret, but as you can see, some of fears are stronger than others. Some I cannot hide, like right now. Remember when I said that I accept death, even though I fear it? Yeah, I fear not just death, but the causes of it. Like being buried alive for example.

I blinked, tuning in for a second just to make sure nothing was going on before I went off into my own little world again.

_Let's see if I can list all the things I'm afraid of._

_Being buried alive, drowning, spiders, needles- Okay, I gave myself a few shots back on Reach but it was either that or risk infection. So there, meh. Okay, what else… Bugs, I hate bugs. Creep me the fuck out with how many eyes they have. I'm afraid of the color white. Yes, white, the color in the doctor offices. Doctors of course; don't trust them. Let's see… ah I can't remember anything else. Oh, hey, where do all these hallways lead to? Why aren't we going through them?_

I glanced at the group, before slipping into the next hall we passed. I walked along, gun held at the ready as I looked back and forth. Huh, no doorways? That's odd…

It happened so fast that I couldn't even shout out in alarm. Someone grabbed my arm, spun me around, and began pushing me back the way I just came. I was about to go into panic mode when they hissed next to my ear.

"Don't touch anything, don't make a sound, and _**don't**_wander off. If I have to keep an eye on you every minute of this mission, I'm sending you back." I glared as best as I could at John before he gave me a shove when we reached the main hall where the rest of the group was waiting. John took the lead, and the ODSTs followed behind me. I rolled my eyes as I followed the 'o great leader'. _I bet John told them to. Probably to make sure I don't wander off. Maybe I should just go back, it's better than being bored out of my mind underground._ I glanced back where we came, mouth open to announce my decision, but the eerie hallway seemed endless and dark, making me change my mind.

_If something were to get you, no one would hear your screams…_

Okay, now where did _that_ come from?

I waited for the creepy voice to do a little "muahaha" at the end, but it didn't come. I resisted the urge to sigh. Sighing would probably count as speaking in John's book. Damn his book. It's probably really long. Longer than the dictionary I bet. If I ever have to read his in order to figure stuff about him out then I'm just going to have to go with the old fashion way. Annoying the hell out of him until he cracks. He has pretty good patience though, so it could take quite a while… ah, who am I kidding, to him I've probably grown even more annoying then twelve years ago. Haha, probably because he's an old man now. Well, not really that old, only ten years older… that's not so bad. But still, he's ten years older than me, making him an old man. HA!

The grin vanished from my face and my eyes darted around, cheeks growing red before I paused in my footsteps, logic working at my mind. No one would be able to see my grin. Even if they did, they wouldn't hear my thoughts. My face returned to normal with a cheeky grin. _Ha, I bet John has no idea what I__'m thinking. That know it all, thinks he knows everything… he knows nothing of what I think. Heh heh heh._

"Spartan!" My head jerked up, looking around. I looked down to see an impatient ODST. "What's the hold up?"

"Oh, I was… sorry." _I think being underg__round is making me a bit crazy. _I hurried up to join the others and tried to keep my mind go blank.

It didn't take long for that to blow over.

My mind drifted to the past two weeks. Getting rescued, finding out we're allies with an alien race, meeting two okay friends and one douche bag of a friend that hates the actual person I am, seeing Mike and Jai… I felt my eyes start to tear up.

Everyone… almost everyone is gone…

I felt myself shake and silently begged that it didn't show. The last thing I need is having someone ask me if something was wrong then having my voice crack. But I just couldn't stop shaking. I bit my lip before I swallowed, keeping any and all sounds from escaping my throat.I've shown weakness once, and I will not do it again. Not now.

I took a shaky breath in, letting it out slowly through my nose as the tears went back in, never running.

You know when you want to cry so bad, even if there's no reason, you just want to cry and you're holding it in until you feel like your chest is going to burst? That's how I feel.

I breathed a soundless sigh.

And everything has changed. No more Reach, no more Harvest from what Johnson says, and hardly any Spartans. My throat tightened and I snapped my eyes shut.

_God damn it… don't cry Jess… get it together… you can't appear weak, especially when there could be enemies around._

My guard went back up at the thought of the Covenant. Brutes, drones, grunts, hunters, elites… I shook my head. No, elites are our allies now. The event from a little over a week ago flashed through my mind and I cringed, trying to push those thoughts out. No, they are allies. What happened on Reach… What happened there is in the past.

_Does that mean you forgive your family's murderers?_

I tensed up, a shiver running up my spine. I clenched my eyes closed.

_No, they are not… I won't forgive them. I'll _never_ forgive them for killing my family. But I _**will**_ give them a chance._

Why does it feel like I'm signing a death wish?


	12. IMPORTANT

HELLO PEOPLE WHO GIVE A CRAP  
First off I want to give a deep thanks to everyone who has read, reviewed, alerted, and favorite this fanfiction No I am not going to discontinue it, those days are hopefully behind me (different time, different account). No, what I plan on doing is that I am…

_**REWRITING FORGOTTEN**_

YES I shall be rewriting Forgotten. Sorry if this news update irritated or gave up any hope from my fabulous readers because you thought that I finally updated a new chapter. I am sorry to say that I had met a block months ago, and during those months have tried to get around it. I am so sorry to those who have been patiently reading and have been so faithful to me and my stories, and to those who are reading this, thinking "GIMME A CHAPTER NOW BITCH". I love you all.

I need opinions, whether to update the new version as it comes in a separate story "Forgotten REVISED", or make that Forgotten and have this one's title changed (I want the new one to be Forgotten, to get the meaning across), or just put the revised version over this one and erase the original. Or do you not want me to rewrite it? (if you don't, that's fine I won't post it if it's a majority vote, but I will still rewrite it and not post it) Or something totally different to which I have no brain power to come up with at…. 1:12 in the morning. Wait that's only one from- 1:13! WHOO- ok random tired moment over now. So tired.. so very tired… what was I talking about? Oh yeah

So what should I do? I need some opinions here, and if it'd be possible I'd like to keep the original somewhere and still have the rewritten version as it comes.

Again, thank you to all my wonderful readers who have stuck with me and put up with my ridiculous update taking time, and to even those who started reading this, went on for a few days, then said 'screw it' and went to read a Twilight fanfic. I forgive and love you as well, because almost 9,000 of you have viewed my story, and 35 reviews? That's much more than I've ever had! I'm so happy… and thanks so much to Credete who has been beta'ing this story since the early days and has stuck with me for months, giving me encouragement and ideas when I was bone dry from lack of inspiration. You may say otherwise, but I really couldn't have gotten this far without you.

Opinions? Reviews? HelpmeIamalmostdesperate?

**OH ALSO:**

The rewritten version will tie into the timeline more, and pretty much the whole plot will go and be twisted and cut and added to. Somehow I think that made sense to only me and my sleep deprived brain. Oh well, you get the picture. It'll start out the same, Jessie lonely, and then eventually being found- but better wording and grammer and just overall better (hopefully).


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